The end of summer is rapidly approaching.  For children this mean no more beach days or running for hours in the neighborhood, for parents this means daytime quiet and order restored to the house but for school administrators this means a whole new school year with a whole new set of efficiency and budget issues.

With the economy being what it is and budgets being slashed year after year, it becomes a task of how to do more with less for less.  Investing in the proper equipment can help with this.  I'm sure by now you have heard about the mandatory F.C.C. Narrowbanding (if you haven't, read more about it here).  One way to accomplish the conversion and streamline your operations in one felt swoop is to upgrade your equipment. 

Wouldn't it be a dream to be able to communicate throughout your district, connect to your school buses and keep your students safer in the classroom while reducing operational costs?  Well it isn't a dream.  You can make it a reality.  The Motorola MotoTRBO portfolio can help you and your organization achieve this dream.  To learn more about MotoTRBO and it's impact on Education, check out this education application brief "MotoTRBO: Score High Marks for Schoolwide Safety". (to download the brief click here)

You will learn:

• How to locate your staff, students and buses instantly
• Prioritize communication immediately
• Manage employee attendance and payroll automatically
• Respond remotely with tracking applications
• Connect your campus completely
• Reduce operational costs
• Communicate without disturbing others

Many districts have already deployed the MotoTRBO solution.  To read about how one district did this click here.

Mutualink, a company specializing in creating interoperable communities that are, at an instant, capable of sharing voice, text, radio, video, data and telephone communications in a secure environment, has published a knowledge brief discussing three key factors for effective interoperability.  All of those involved in an incident, whether thay are field first responders, dispatch personnel, or crisis managers, must be ready at a moment's notice to respond: not just react.  Effective communications allowing real-time collaboration is the most fundamental element in emergency situations.  According to Mutualink, a successful system must be simple, flexible and familiar.

1. Simple - Any system must be very easy to use and intuitive.

2. Flexible - Every incident is different and requires different responses.

3. Familiar - In time-critical situations, all users must be able to communicate and then collaborate with methods that are second-nature to them.

To read their complete knowledge brief and hear about a real world working example click here

For more information on Mutualink click here

Motorola, in conjunction with School Transportation News is offering a free* webinar to help student transporters make sense of the FCC narrowbanding requirement that is set to go into effect January 1, 2013.

Cost: Free

Date: January 26, 2012

Time: Noon (Eastern)

Where: Online Webcast

*Toll charges may apply.  Webinar can be viewed online with audio enabled at no additional charge. 

Here is the link to learn more about it or to register

You may also be interested in some previous blog posts we have written about Narrowbanding highlighting some important dates and information

• FCC Narrowbanding Mandate for Two-way: Who, what, where, when and why

• 5 FAQ's about FCC Narrowbanding Mandate

• Interoperability and Narrowbanding for First Responders

• July 13, 2011 F.C.C. Public Notice on Narrowbanding