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American Time Blog

The Benefits of an Emergency Notification System for Daily Use

Posted by American Time on Aug 7, 2023 11:00:00 AM

Campus Safety's reports and surveys make clear the importance of having multiple communication systems and regularly using those systems so staff and students are familiar with how they work. Different systems fill in the inevitable gaps of any single technology, ensuring redundancy and clearer communications during a crisis, and facilitate alerts being sent to different audiences in an emergency, such as students, law enforcement, parents, neighbors, etc.

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Topics: EverAlert, Emergency Notification Systems

Creating More Effective Lockdown and Armed Intruder Drills and Protocols with EverAlert

Posted by Zach Bauman on May 16, 2023 8:30:14 AM

 

Like fire drills and tornado drills, lockdown and intruder drills have become commonplace in our schools.

Because these drills and the emergency plans they're designed to test and reinforce are responsible for keeping students safe, it's important to be sure that your protocols are efficient and effective.

With American Time's EverAlert system, you can be confident that you're providing your students and staff with the tools and information they need to be safe.  

How?  We're glad you asked...

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Topics: EverAlert, schools, school safety

American Time + The I Love U Guys Foundation: Making Safer Schools

Posted by Zach Bauman on Apr 25, 2023 11:04:24 AM

 

"Crisis isn't a choice. Response is." - The "I Love U Guys" Foundation homepage

 

 

On September 27, 2006, at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado, 16-year-old Emily Keyes lost her life to a gunman who had entered the school and taken seven students hostage.  At some point during the crisis, Emily managed to send a brief text message to her mother, Ellen, reading “I love u guys. K" and one to her father, John-Michael, which said "I love you guys."

It’s hard to imagine how any parent can deal with the loss of a child, much less find motivation in such a senseless tragedy.  But the Keyes family has done just that, establishing The "I Love U Guys" Foundation in 2006 with the mission “to restore and protect the joy of youth through educational programs and positive actions in collaboration with families, schools, communities, organizations and government entities.”  According to the Foundation, their programs are used in more than 40,000 schools and other organizations and communities around the world.

That's why American Time is proud to partner with The "I Love U Guys" Foundation in furthering their mission to ensure schools are well-equipped to manage crisis situations if they arise.

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Topics: EverAlert, schools, I Love U Guys

"Not Every Project I Work on is Fun -- This One Was."

Posted by Zach Bauman on Feb 27, 2023 11:32:30 AM

Like many districts, the Ackley-Geneva-Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock (AGWSR) School District in central Iowa faces some of the common issues arising from buildings starting to show their age.  For example:

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Topics: EverAlert

Trivia + Technology = Better Classroom Communication?

Posted by Zach Bauman on Feb 17, 2023 2:47:32 PM

From the time they wake up to the time they fall asleep, children and adults alike are bombarded with information coming from dozens of different sources competing for their attention.

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Topics: EverAlert

Problem-Solving: EverAlert Live audio paging goes live at LaMoure Public School

Posted by Zach Bauman on Jan 30, 2023 9:00:04 AM

You may have heard TV chef Alton Brown criticize "unitaskers" -- tools in the kitchen that take up space but only perform one specific task -- in favor of "multitaskers" which can suit a variety of purposes just as well as a dedicated tool. 

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Topics: EverAlert, schools

A Smarter, More-Connected Campus; How One Tech-Oriented California School Transformed Their Communications and Culture with EverAlert

Posted by Zach Bauman on Jan 13, 2023 8:25:23 AM

The Palmdale Aerospace Academy (TPAA) lives and breathes technology.

Founded in 2012, the school serves California's Antelope Valley community -- an area 40 miles north of Los Angeles nicknamed "Aerospace Valley" due to the aerospace industry's long-standing presence. TPAA is a STEM-focused K-12 school with the express intention of supporting the highly technical needs of its neighboring industries.

Ten years later, the school educates over 2500 students. As enrollment grew, so did the challenges. Steel-framed buildings made it difficult for their classroom atomic clocks to synchronize. They had an emergency alert system, but it wasn't integrated with any other systems. Despite being spread across two buildings with a number of outdoor campus facilities, there was no bell system. More students meant more systems to manage.

American Time's EverAlert system changed all that and, in the process, changed their culture.

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Topics: EverAlert

Everything you Need to Know about Synchronized Time: 4 Best Clock Technologies Explained

Posted by American Time on Jun 14, 2021 8:00:45 AM


Accurate, synchronized clocks in your building, school or facility are more than a convenience. When clocks display the wrong time or different times from each other, major disruptions and even risks can happen, such as….

  • Meetings, classes or shifts start and end at different times, causing confusion and inefficiency
  • Wages or compensation are disputed
  • Critical tasks like surgeries, food prep or manufacturing processes aren’t tracked or reported accurately
  • Maintenance staff spend too much time on clock repairs and adjustments

“Employees didn’t have reliable clocks for calculating shift changes or break times. There were lots of debates about whether an employee was really tardy or not, whether some people were abusing their break times by leaving early and returning late, and whether meetings were starting and ending on time.”

DMR Electronics

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Topics: Daylight Saving Time, School Clock Systems, Synchronized Clock Systems, Wired Clock Systems, Hybrid Clock Systems, Wireless Clock Systems, PoE Clock Systems, EverAlert, Digital Clocks, Master Clocks

Solution Provider Spotlight: T.E.S.T. Creates Safe, Secure, Smart Learning Environments Across Montana

Posted by American Time on May 5, 2021 10:16:04 AM

When you’re searching for new technology to help students learn better or for a school to run more efficiently, there are countless options. Which technology will live up to its promises? How does a school evaluate differences?

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Topics: School Clock Systems, EverAlert

The Importance of Redundancy in Emergency Notification Systems

Posted by American Time on Aug 17, 2020 8:00:00 AM

A student is called to the office but the PA system disrupts the entire school to make the announcement. A student has a medical emergency in a hallway but there’s no way to communicate with nearby classrooms. Instructions for fire, lockdown and tornado drills aren’t clear or specific to each area of a building.

No single emergency notification system can cover every scenario and communicate in every way possible, as explained in a recent survey and report by Campus Safety: “… several mass notification systems should be deployed so that the weaknesses of one solution can be compensated for by other so­lutions.” In fact, most K-12 and higher ed survey respondents use multiple systems to ensure that emergency communication is clear, redundant and reliable.

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Topics: EverAlert, Emergency Notification Systems

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