SendIt All-Call System
Plain Local Schools uses the SendIt notification system. This software allows us to provide timely communication to parents and staff regarding emergencies or school-related cancellations. The system works by delivering a pre-recorded telephone message to phone numbers specified by the parents and staff members.
Please note: Student families are automatically enrolled in the system using phone numbers provided to the child’s school during registration. Staff are automatically enrolled at the time of employment.
While the goal is to contact every person at the number specified, technical problems may prohibit the successful delivery of messages in every case. Specifically, problems with phone lines or cellular connection quality, ambient noise, telephone privacy services, and some outgoing voicemail or answering machine messages may inhibit message delivery.
The following questions and answers address some of the most common concerns with the system:
Q: I had a missed call from a spam phone number- is this the school?
A: The phone number for our SendIt calls is (234) 209-9093, we suggest families store this number in their phone so that your cell phone carrier does not mark the call as spam.
Q: Why did some families receive an all-call and I did not?
A: When an emergency affects some of the school population, but not all of it, only the people affected will be notified. For example, if an elementary school is closed due to a power failure, only the parents and staff members in that school will be notified. This allows us to ensure that we're not needlessly notifying parents of situations that do not affect them.
Q: I missed part of the message, how can I listen again?
A: At any time during the message, you can restart the message by pressing your "*" key on your phone. Additionally, messages sent by the Superintendent will also be shared on our website so families can read a transcript of the call.
Q: What if my line is busy when the call is sent?
A: SendIt will make up to four attempts to reach you.
Q: Why is my answering machine only playing half of the message?
A: If the answering machine greeting is sporadic with various periods of silence or does not start playing within three seconds, the system may read this as a live person and begin playing the message before the machine has started recording.
Alternately, if the answering machine is set to record for a specific amount of time (e.g., 30 seconds) and the SendIt message runs longer than that, this will also result in message cut-off. The recommended solution is to have parents set their machines to record for a longer period.
Q: My called ID showed I had a missed call but there was no message
A: The system will ring a line up to six times. If your answering machine is set to pick up on seven or more rings, the message may not be delivered to your machine. Therefore, we encourage you to set your machine to six rings or fewer. Another possibility is that there is a break or a substantial silence in your machine’s outgoing message, causing the SchoolMessenger message to play prior to the machine actually recording. Please make sure that the greeting is seamless to facilitate successful message delivery.
Q: Will the system call numbers with extensions?
A: SendIt cannot navigate phone menus and is unable to dial extensions.