Honeywell announced that 26 school districts in eastern Washington, one school district in western Washington and two school districts in northern Idaho will use Honeywell Instant Alert ® for Schools, a Web-based notification service, to quickly contact parents and staff with emergency and routine school news.

The school districts have contracted with Educational Service District 101 (ESD 101), a service provider for seven Washington counties that supports more than 96,000 K-12 students, and 250 public and private school buildings.

Instant Alert replaces outdated phone trees and gives administrators a way to send clear, consistent messages to thousands of people within minutes.  The service broadcasts alerts via any communication device -- phone, cell phone, pager, e-mail and PDA -- increasing the likelihood that parents will receive critical information.  It can send 150,000 30-second phone calls in 15 minutes and 6,400 text-based messages per minute.

"ESD 101 utilizes the most current technology while providing innovative, cost-effective solutions for our schools," said Terry Munther, ESD 101 superintendent.  "Because of Honeywells strong leadership in technology and security, as well as their willingness to tailor the service to our needs, Instant Alert is a great addition to our offerings."

Previously, participating ESD 101 schools used Instant Alert only to notify media outlets in the event of weather-related emergencies.  Under the full-deployment service now offered through
ESD 101, schools are able to use Instant Alert to contact parents, teachers and staff directly for all types of messages, from bus delays to meeting reminders.

"With Instant Alert, we can use multiple technologies to get an accurate, concise message to parents and staff immediately," said Steve Zalewski, information technology analyst for ESD 101.  "Relying on the media to deliver critical information presumes parents have immediate access to television or radio, and that is not always the case."

Freeman School District, which serves 900 students and is an ESD 101 member, decided to use Instant Alert because of its direct-communication capabilities and ease of use.

"Instant Alert allows us to reach parents with important messages by typing a message online or placing a single phone call," said Sergio Hernandez, Freeman School District superintendent.  "By using Instant Alert to send information, we save time and know that parents receive messages directly from the school and not inaccurate information from other people."

In addition to broadcasting messages to all parents, Instant Alert allows schools to create an unlimited number of subgroups and send customized messages to these groups.

"We are able to create specialized lists and send messages to the parents of kids in specific clubs or on sports teams," said Steve Gaub, superintendent of Wilbur School District.  "We also can schedule messages to these groups in advance. Instant Alert has definitely streamlined our communications process."

The Reardan-Edwall School District, which serves 650 students and is a member of ESD 101, recently used the service to inform parents of a bus that was late returning to the school after a sixth-grade function.

"Instant Alert provides a direct link to parents so they know exactly what is going on at school," said Doug Asbjornsen, Reardan-Edwall School District superintendent.  "It gives us the ability to get information quickly to the people who need it."

To use Instant Alert, a designated school representative initiates a message through a secure Web site or by phone.  The message is instantly relayed to all contact points provided by parents or guardians.  Parents can update their contact information online and specify how they want to be reached -- e-mail for a routine message, and e-mail, pager and cell phone for emergency communications, for example.

More than 1,800 schools across the country use Honeywell Instant Alert for Schools to communicate more efficiently with parents and staff.