Blackboard Connect 5 Adds New Mass Notification Features

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 09/17/12

Blackboard's mass notification system has been updated with better data integration features and automatic messaging to IP endpoints, such as voice-over-IP phones. Blackboard Connect is a multi-modal notification system that school officials can use to send messages through voice, email, text, fax, pager, Facebook, and Twitter. Since its release a year ago Blackboard Connect 5 has sent messages to 28 million people around the world, the company said in a statement.

The latest round of enhancements includes new data integration tools, such as a client-side data uploader program to streamline data integration and give users more control over the integration process; automated contact database integration between Blackboard Connect and Blackboard Engage (previously Edline); and scheduled synchronization with secure file servers for automated, routine notifications.

Blackboard is also tapping technology from Singlewire to add messaging directly to endpoints running on the Internet Protocol, such as Cisco IP phones. Eventually, that upgrade could encompass other IP endpoints, such as paging systems, digital signage, and sirens

The newest version also includes a boost to single-sign-on; enhanced geo-targeting capabilities and weather templates for automated weather alerts recorded in a human voice; and internationalization improvements, such as interface support for right-to-left alphabets such as Arabic and Hebrew.

"The rapid adoption of Blackboard Connect 5 speaks to the platform's innovative, reliable and easy-to-use technology for effective emergency notification and community outreach," said Ed Miller, president of Blackboard Connect. "We've streamlined the data integration, message creation and delivery process so that communities receive more relevant, targeted information faster than ever before. The result is communities that are more informed, engaged and secure at all times."

Blackboard Connect users include Eudora Schools in Kansas, Beaufort County Schools in North Carolina, and Franklin Special School District in Tennessee.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • abstract illustration of a classroom with glowing circuits and technology gradually integrated from left to right

    Not All Tech Is Created Equal: Transforming Classrooms with Purposeful Technology

    Classrooms will always be places where students build relationships, develop critical thinking skills, and grow into who they’re going to be as adults and citizens. Technology should be a tool to support these goals.

  • interconnected geometric human figures forming a network

    CoSN: School Staffing Is the Top Hurdle to K-12 Innovation

    Hiring and keeping educators and IT staff remains the top challenge for K-12 education in 2025, according to the latest Driving K-12 Innovation Report from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN).

  • teacher

    6 Policy Recommendations for Adopting AI in the Classroom

    The Southern Regional Education Board's Commission on AI in Education has published six recommendations on adopting artificial intelligence in schools, colleges, and universities. The guidance marks the commission's first release since it was established last February, with more recommendations planned in the coming year.

  • robot waving

    Copilot Updates Aim to Personalize AI

    Microsoft has introduced a range of updates to its Copilot platform, marking a new phase in its effort to deliver what it calls a "true AI companion" that adapts to individual users' needs, preferences and routines.