To Whom It May Concern:

We started our relationship with Insta-Info in the Fall of 2010. Prior to that, we were AlertNow users.

One of the primary reasons for switching was due to the recommendation of the new Business Manager, who had experience with it at his previous school. At that time, we were also considering going to VoIP. We needed a solution that gave us voicemail.

TEC offered a solution that combined both outbound calling and voicemail for a very reasonable price.

The implementation went very smoothly. TEC went up and beyond their normal support to get us running (we are using an old Avaya system and need some configuration on it).

TEC voicemail provides a web interface. Many of our users like that feature as it will forward messages to email. Our smartphone users really appreciate that. Our voicemails are also archived for records retention purposes.

The outbound calling feature is more robust. We are now able to have teachers do their own outbound calls if they want to. The phone lists are automatically updated.

We immediately implemented the absence call feature. We are able to do an automated absence call to parents (eliminating the manual phone call made by our attendance office).

Lastly and above all else, TEC support is like no other. It exceeds my expectations. I would not consider going elsewhere.

If anyone would like additional information, they may contact me.

I wanted to take a quick minute and tell you all how impressed I am that I was able to dial into my phone number just now and hear our new system in action.  You all did a fantastic job of such a quick cutover...I'm still in a little bit of shock...

I'm sure there will be bumps along the way, but I have no doubt that we'll get through them just fine...what a great team effort...thanks to all of you for your hard work to make this a success.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to share my experience working with The Education Connection during the 2012-2013 school year.  I began my tenure as the interim superintendent of the Poland Local Schools at the beginning of September, 2012.  I agreed to serve the school system for this school year as they begin their search for a permanent superintendent.  One of my first challenges, and to date, my greatest challenge was to promote the passage of a 5.9 mill 5-year Emergency Operating Levy.  This levy had failed on the previous three (3) attempts and there appeared to be a negative atmosphere and a lot of misinformation in the community.

There was no levy committee in place when I arrived.  I planned to have our first levy committee meeting on September 5, 2012.  I was fortunate to have a pretty good turnout at the first meeting.  We brainstormed, set up committees and discussed strategies.  During the early stages, I decided to utilize robo-call system that was being facilitated and provided by The Education Connection.  After my first call to parents of our students for support of the levy, I was informed by one of our Board of Education Members that I was not permitted to use this system for supporting the levy (a political issue) since the call account was paid for with our local tax dollars.  I understood, but was frustrated that this system was not able to be used for levy purposes.  By chance, a colleague mentioned that Doug Fritz of The Education Connection was in a position where he could donate (in-kind services) a separate account to our Citizens for Poland Schools (our levy committee) and no tax payer funds would be utilized.  Upon hearing this, I called Doug and the rest is history.

We utilized committee members, children of committee members, graduates, senior citizens, high-profile citizens, etc. to make brief announcement asking for the community’s support.  Upon Doug’s suggestion, we got all the registered voters’ addresses from our County Board of Elections and then paid a company to match these addresses with phone numbers.  During the last two weeks before the election (November 6, 2012) we made one (1) call an evening.  We did receive a few nasty responses, but considering that approximately 5,000 calls went out an evening, a couple dozen negative calls represented a very small percentage.  We figured they were voting NO for the levy to begin with.  We had a great committee (60 – 80 members), a lot of energy with door-to-door contacts, and very visible signage. 

We passed the levy by over 55%! 

I believe the robo calls had a great impact on the outcome.  Doug Fritz and his associates were extremely helpful and I can’t say enough about their patience with me and my many calls for assistance.  I was always greeted with a friendly “hello” and “how can we help you?”.

In addition, I’ve already used our regular school account to close one (1) school building due to a water main break in the Village of Poland.  In addition, I made one robo call because we had a school bus go into a ditch and roll over on its side.  I used the robo call to tell the parents in a brief message that, “this is a rumor control call … we had a school bus accident this morning … there were no students on the bus … I repeat, there were no students on the bus … and, the driver is okay”.  You never know what the new media would have done with this!  A number of parents informed us that they greatly appreciated the robo call and the accurate information.

The 24/7 friendly support from The Education Connection is the best.

Doug,

I wish you were able to see our local news tonight!

The name of your company was not used but the topic of the use of the "all-call" system was mentioned several times in the reports and how valuable they were to communicating to parents.

Our Superintendent talked about it on tonight's news cast.

I thought you might like to know that and how it was relied upon by the district.

As always - thank you for being on top of things!  Yours is, without doubt, the most professional company I have ever worked with!
Thank you, Doug.

Thank you for the neat solar keychain and for your continued help and support.  I've called you at some strange hours and you've always come through.  Keep up the great job!

I will probably need some campaign help again in April during the run-up to our 2 ballot issues – one is a renewal and one is a replacement levy for district security upgrades.  Also, I will probably do that survey in April or May.

Thanks again to you and the entire gang at TEC for a great product and even better service.  Ultimately, it's the service (your
people) that keeps us coming back. 

Thanks for your speedy help! I feel like I'm your only client! You take care of all my requests so quickly! 
I appreciate all you do!!!  :)