Even though introduced in 1886 by Alexander Graham Bell; fewer than 50% of homes had a phone 50 years later in 1946. When I was a kid, our home still had ‘party line’ service, where 5 families shared a single line running down the street; until 1976. If you wanted to know what your neighbors were doing? No need to ‘friend’ them; just pick up your phone, and listen in on their conversation! The telephone was a great device to bring us closer, and connect us with friends and family and I was always fascinated by the technology behind it.
As early as the 1950′s, Ma Bell, as we lovingly called AT&T, tried to get away from operator dialed calls; and found ways to use a variety of clicks, tones and whistles to connect and route calls. A fascinating NPR story on Radio Lab on the sounds that drove Telco is here… The story speaks of a blind boy Joe Engressia, Jr. who could mimic these sounds to control phones with his perfect pitch voice.
The right sounds could cause a pay phone to connect calls to California without inserting money (and a trans-continental call was about $10.00 a MINUTE in today’s dollars. The clicks and whistles could connect a call in about a minute. Although most long distance calls were connected by an Operator, because without perfect pitch; you needed a perfect substitute– a helpful, American based Operator; who typically worked in the local phone company office down the street. What a great time when your voice could be heard thousands of miles away, after waiting just a few minutes to reach the Operator and have your call connected.
In 1964, AT&T (The nation’s only phone company at the time) introduced touch tone dialing at the 1964 NY World’s Fair. I was amazed by the ability to press keys and ‘dial’ a number compared to needing to call an Operator or slowly spin a rotary dial. It was ten years before the phone system nationwide (and in our home in New Jersey) was upgraded sufficiently to allow anyone to order touch tone service.
The now familiar DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) tones you hear on virtually every phone, and replicated on many cell phones, were interpreted by telephone company circuitry as the numbers you dialed to connect the call. This was really cool leading-edge technology in 1964 and is still used as-is in every land-line phone.
Now I get impatient when the iPhone display says ‘connecting’ for more than a second or two; and technology introductions are seen as failures if they are not universally adopted by 80% of Americans within five years. Rotary phones, party lines and local operators have been replaced, several times over, as we seek ever more sophisticated and faster ways to connect with people, but the principle hasn’t changed. Information must be sent to others frequently, efficiently and smoothly. Messages are sent to Protect people, Inform them, and Engage them. We have so many new ways to send them, and to block, parry and avoid them.
I’m excited about the ever growing ways we have to make sure critical messages DO get through.
With One Call Now, schools improve their safety communication capabilities.
School safety is often strained during unexpected events like tornadoes, fires, floods and, occasionally, tragic occurrences that devastate communities. These types of incidents are so dangerous that the Ohio Department of Education will host a statewide tornado drill and Severe Weather Awareness Week to prepare students and school staff for emergencies.
The state’s education department also issued a statement regarding the recent shooting at Chardon High School that resulted in the deaths of three students.
“Teachers and administrators, students and parents across the state are processing the horrific events and realizing that this can happen anywhere,” the Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner wrote on the department’s website. “I encourage all of you to review your school safety plans and take all necessary steps to assure that you are living your plans.”
Whether a school needs to notify students, parents and staff members of early releases, class cancellations or lockdowns or provide safety tips for families, school messaging systems from One Call Now achieve all of these goals.
The service is so effective because it utilizes a system with multiple notification options. Administrators send a uniform message through voice, text and email so everyone receives the update simultaneously. Even if an emergency strikes at a moment’s notice, One Call Now is the calm during the storm.
A group of five teenagers goes four-wheeling on Vancouver Island and runs out of gas. With no cell reception, temperatures hovering around freezing and heavy snow falling as night approaches they are in trouble. One of the teens successfully hiked 14 km through deep snow to get help. Fortunately, the Cowichan Search & Rescue uses One Call Now’s group messaging to coordinate their rescue efforts, ensuring that their responses are lightning fast and miscommunications are avoided. We are happy to report that the teens were found alive. Click here for more on this story, visit OneCallNow.com for more information on how automated calling could benefit your organization.
One Call Now, the country’s largest message notification provider, is teaming up with Excellence in Dentistry to continue its commitment to local community organizations through sponsorship of free group messaging service. This extremely popular program has provided over 900 local teams, clubs, community and youth groups the ability to use One Call Now to send over 600,000 messages last year. The program provides free phone calls for local groups who are looking for a great way to quickly communicate and avoid playing the telephone game with calling trees.
Whether it’s to cancel practice, announce an upcoming event, or to see who is able to volunteer this Saturday, One Call Now’s message notification service saves group leaders time, and helps protect children, inform parents and better engage everyone in the group.
For more information about how your organization can benefit from this free program, please contact Excellence in Dentistry at 937.335.4630 for details. Group size may be limited.
About One Call Now
Founded in 2002, One Call Now has offices in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Georgia, and Florida. The company has been honored as one of Inc. magazine’s fastest growing privately held companies in America for four consecutive years.
One Call Now has grown to be one of the largest locally-owned companies in Miami County; and is honored to be named one of the 50 best places to work in America by Inc. Magazine and Winning Workplaces.
Schools with messaging systems in place can make sure students and staff stay updated during crises.
High schools across the country must be prepared for the unexpected, but there are solutions that can help bridge the communication gap between staff members, students and their parents. Whether a district is conducting a standard evacuation, or an incident occurs that involves a lockdown, school messaging systems from One Call Now are ideal during these events.
The ability to send a unified message to several endpoints makes the solutions extremely effective. For example, students, parents and teachers receive alerts through their mobile phones, email account or voice messages to ensure they remain updated regarding a specific event.
However, some occurrences are more serious than others. A suburban Cleveland, Ohio, high school recently experienced a shooting tragedy that has left several students dead, once again highlighting how an ordinary day can turn into a crisis situation. The incident in the morning before the school day had started, according to local police.
Although high schools cannot predict the actions of some, they can ensure proper communication is upheld during stressful and dangerous times. Parents will appreciate such systems during an event of this magnitude, knowing that authorities are doing all they can to protect their children.
