Telephone Technology Increases Communication across the Board (1994)

tremendous explosion in telecommunications technology has sent shock waves throughout education. Educators are actually ahead of consumers--distance learning has been a viable educational alternative for the past several years, yet the concept of town meetings had most of America chortling in disbelief during the past election. latest development in the communications explosion is the increased number of uses for telephone technology, particularly in education. In the past, a phone in the classroom was a luxury and often an annoyance. However the telephone is now providing education with a vital link to parents and the community--a link that many herald as one of the missing pieces in the education puzzle. * Getting the Word Out Systems are now available that allow parents or students to call their school and hear important information; connect to electronic gradebook programs; provide student progress messages and information on upcoming tests; impart attendance statistics; and more. Or systems can dial out to parents to provide much of the same information, safeguarded via passwords. Another option, several companies offer phone-based registration systems in which high school or university students can register for classes, change their classes, learn of pre-requisites, have alternatives presented and pay tuition with a credit card. Plus a wide variety of other programs with telephone capabilities are also available. Media and library management are but a few examples that come to mind. It should be said that the amino acid for these telephone-based tools is voice mail, which has many educational uses. Instructors at higher education institutions need voice mailboxes in which students and colleagues could leave messages. At K-12 schools, voice mail would enable parents to communicate with teachers without having to wait until school opens. In addition, voice mail provides callers with access to recorded outgoing messages regarding registration, school closings and special events. Higher education faculty could leave outgoing messages concerning classes, tests and office hour availability. Numerous companies offer voice mail products. Examples include AT&T, whose AUDIX Voice Power voice messaging system works with its Merlin Legend phone system to provide just such communications between schools and parents. One user, Superintendent Jacob Broncato of School District 401 in Elmwood Park, Ill., says, The system makes school personnel easily accessible to parents any time during the day. It also helps us keep in touch with the community. * Phone-Based Registration Registration on a college campus is usually a stress-filled process in which long lines, long days and nights, and long faces are commonplace. Many schools need an alternative that would free up staff, raise morale and improve service to students. Phone-based registration systems do just that. While many are developed specifically for education, others are generic and can be used in business settings as well. Most take advantage of interactive voice recognition technology, which provides information to callers using touch-tone phones by serving as the front-end to a database of any type. For example, the Meridian IVR system, Meridian Mail's Automated Attendant and Voice Menus from Northern Telecom offer 24-hour database access that allows students to register for classes, get dorm assignments, request transcripts, learn grades and more. An example may run as follows. Students call in and hear a recorded greeting. Options are then presented: Dial 1 to register for courses, Dial 2 to request catalogs or transcripts, Dial 3 for information about your account. Dialing one will connect the caller to Meridian IVR, which queries the university's student record database for registration information as well as a course listing database. …