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So, what’s up for Earth Day? My Call Now!

Posted on April 22, 2013 by cbrownlee

The other day a friend emailed and asked, “So, what are you guys doing for Earth Day?” I didn’t know how to respond. I just don’t think about the concept in terms of a single day. But, the question piqued my curiosity, so I did a Google search on the subject. It yielded lots of Earth Day ideas and there were examples of green initiatives for companies large and small. That’s when it occurred to me… One Call Now is a green initiative.

So I fired off an email to my friend. Here’s what it said:

Kudos to all the companies supporting Earth Day! However, we won’t be wearing free t-shirts and posing for photos. We won’t be allocating green funding. And we won’t be talking about green initiatives that fizzle out at the end of the day.

At One Call Now, we’re going to support Earth Day by:

Contacting hundreds of nurses to offer them shift openings,
Notifying thousands of parents that their children’s school lunch card balances are low,
Announcing facility maintenance activities to tens of thousands of residents of managed properties,
Inviting hundreds of thousands of congregants to special programs at their churches, and
Sending other reminders and alerts to millions of additional people to ensure they’re protected, informed, and engaged with the people and organizations important to them.

AND we’ll do it without using a single sheet of paper.

Our business is mass notification. We send messages for tens of thousands of businesses, schools, churches and organizations. Every day we deliver millions of messages by voice, text, email and social media… all paperless! Today, to coincide with Earth Day, we’re launching My Call Now, a free mobile app for the millions of people who receive our messages. Another way to eliminate the need for paper when managing life’s details.

My Call Now allows those who receive our messages to organize, calendarize, and share their One Call Now messages right in the app. We think the ability to forward messages will keep folks better informed and increase involvement—great news for organizations large and small.

Some green initiatives die on the vine and companies revert to business as usual. For One Call Now, business as usual is a green initiative. We’re supporting Earth Day 24/7/365.

Join us at onecallnow.com/mobile

One Call Now Chosen as Charter Advantage Partner for Parent Notification Services

Posted on April 16, 2013 by cbrownlee

One Call Now Celebrates CCSA Schools by Offering $1.50/Student Service

The California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) marks its 20th year helping charter schools succeed and as a Charter Advantage partner, One Call Now is excited to help them celebrate by providing CCSA members access to One Call Now’s robust parent notification services for just $1.50 per child, no minimum enrollment required.

Since 2009, Charter Advantage, a group purchasing program that helps CCSA members save on the products and services they need has saved schools more than $2 million. Now with a discounted rate on One Call Now’s messaging services, schools can save even more. But they won’t just save on notification. They’ll save the time, money, and hassle they would have otherwise spent organizing phone trees, printing and mailing flyers, and keeping parents informed in times of crisis.

One Call Now is a Pearson ISV (Independent Software Vendor) partner for their student information system, PowerSchool. Schools already using the Pearson suite of educational technology solutions can easily add One Call Now as their notification services provider.

Nearly 700 of California’s more than 1,000 charter schools are members of CCSA. Together, these schools serve more than 400,000 California students. One Call Now is excited to work with the leaders who make these schools run—and for the chance to help them make their messages heard.

About One Call Now
One Call Now is America’s largest message notification provider, with 20 percent of American households—55 million Americans—depending on the company for messages that protect, inform, and engage. Schools nationwide use One Call Now’s high-speed, fully redundant service to quickly and easily send messages to thousands of staff and parents simultaneously. Founded in 2002, One Call Now was named as a 2012 District Administration Top 100 Product for Schools and to Inc. Magazine’s Honor Roll, having made its list of the fastest growing privately held companies in America for five consecutive years. One Call Now is proud to support the Mission of Educators through partnerships with anti-bullying organization Olweus, sponsorship of The Million T-Shirt March Against Bullying, free levy calls for schools, and Kids Read Now, the national summer reading program designed to stop the summer reading slide in elementary schools. For more information, please visit us online or call 877.698.3262.

Green is Sprouting Up Everywhere

Posted on April 9, 2013 by cbrownlee

5 Practical Ideas to Green Up your Bottom Line

By: Nick Frantz

It seems that everyone is taking steps to go a little green. So what’s it mean for property managers? Is it worth your time and effort to promote a green agenda?

For individuals, going green is a personal choice. For some it comes down to situational decisions, “Should I buy my regular detergent or this green one?” For those more committed to the cause it’s a lifestyle choice. And still for others, the choices are financially driven, “I’ll buy my regular cleaning products because they cost less and this hybrid car because it uses less gas.” Participation spans all ages. But the 20–35 year age group is the most committed… and it strongly influences their decision making.

To Play or Not to Play?

It all shakes out to this: yes, the green movement is a trend. It’s a cause. But it’s not a fad. Businesses have seized the opportunity by producing fit-the-need products. Federal, state and local governments are responding with increasing regulatory requirements and restrictions. Green is a factor that affects purchase decisions… so it stands to reason that it plays a role in rental and retention decisions, too.

Here are five practical ideas to put a little green to work on your property.

1. Decide on your light bulbs. In 2014 you will be forced to make a light bulb decision. That’s when the federal government’s ban on incandescent bulbs goes into effect. For standard fixtures, your new choices are CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs or LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs. Both deliver huge energy savings over their old fashioned predecessor. LEDs are superior in energy usage and quality of light, but are much more expensive to purchase.

2. Expand on recycling opportunities. In most municipalities, recyclable trash is picked up separately from regular trash. Although often voluntary, in some areas it’s mandatory. You may already have separate bins for recyclable trash. Are there enough of them? Are they convenient?

I know a managed community whose residents have curb-side pickup, but they take their paper products and aluminum cans to centrally-located bins for pick up. The vendor pays for the recyclable paper and cans and the funds go into the HOA. It’s a voluntary program and nearly everyone participates.

3. Ask utility companies to help. Contact all your utility companies and ask for onsite assessments. Some may charge for the service. However fees are usually reasonable and may qualify you for discounts on upgrades or repairs. They also should have energy-saving tips they can pass on to you, or available on their websites. Pull the ones that apply to your property and publish your own tip list.

4. Increase communications, but conserve your paper. It’s time—past time—to make a serious reduction in your paper communications. A message notification service like One Call Now can do the job better and save you loads of time and money, too. It’s an efficient, affordable way to connect with residents. With One Call Now, you easily reach them using the communication methods they prefer: voice, text, email, and social media sites. Place your message and it’s delivered within minutes to everyone at once across all mediums. And free smartphone apps make it easy when you’re on the go.

Automated features expand your reach and diminish your workload: automated translations (52 different languages), keypad responses, personalized messages, and detailed reports that document your contact. It’s simple to set up. There’s no software to purchase, no hardware to install and no additional phone lines are required. Updates are simple, too.

5. Foster a green perception. Lots of brands tout green qualities. But the ones that carry strong green reputations do a better job at fostering the perception. Make that work for you. Whenever appropriate, communicate your green efforts.

“When you’re in the common areas, please use the recycle trash cans for your empty soda cans.”
“Now that it’s getting warmer, please adjust your thermostat when you leave, so your air conditioner isn’t running up your electric bill while you’re gone.”
“Thank you for your positive responses to our messaging system. Last month alone it reduced our paper usage by more than 800 sheets. That’s nearly two reams!”

None of these ideas are large-scale initiatives. They’re small changes that collectively make a big difference. They also foster the perception that you’re proactively doing your part. Plus, you just might find that your efforts add some green to your bottom line.

For more information regarding resident communication solutions please visit www.onecallnow.com, or call (877) 698-3262 to find out how our text, email and voice messages can work for your community.

You talkin’ to me? No soup for you!

Posted on April 7, 2013 by cbrownlee

School newsletters are going out yet again reminding parents to pay their kids’ school fees for the year. They’re due in September… it’s now April and most schools are thousands of dollars short. That’s a lot of money and I’m sure many of the parents who owe fees don’t realize that they’re the ones who need to pay… so they don’t.

I also read online about a Massachusetts school that denied students their lunch if they had a negative lunch card balance. Since this happened, the school has apologized, the lunch service company has apologized, and “it won’t happen again” was spoken a million times… except it will.

No one is a winner in either case. The school doesn’t have the money it needs to operate, the kids are hungry or not allowed to participate in school activities, and the parents can’t be sure that they know what’s going on… or can they?

Yes, happily they can.

Schools can eliminate the lack of communication, the miscommunication, the vague communication that causes all this angst for LESS than the cost of one school lunch per student. One Call Now’s parent notification solution is able to reach large groups of people at once, just like the newsletter, but instead of wondering if they have a balance, parents only get a call if they do and the balance amount can be noted in the call, text, or email. Questions about the balance? One touch of a button and they can be connected to the school office to discuss it using our Hot Transfer feature.

Additionally, schools can automatically send detailed lunch balance reminder calls to parents when their student’s account dips below a dollar amount. How nice it is to get a reminder call versus what I used to find—a crumpled up note in the bottom of a book bag with a handwritten negative balance on it… in red, of course.

School districts are facing many obstacles in today’s world. Communication doesn’t have to be one of them. Discovering all of the ways One Call Now’s parent notification service can benefit the district—and their parents and staff—goes far beyond snow delay calls and school emergencies. Improving your district’s communication lines, bottom line and lunch line… It’s what we do.

Call 877.698.3262 or visit us online to learn more about One Call Now.

One in five Americans depends on One Call Now for routine and emergency message notification.

Record Growth, Awards Cap Off Year for One Call Now

Posted on April 2, 2013 by cbrownlee

One Call Now, the Nation’s Largest and Fastest Growing Notification Service Provider, Serving 55 Million Americans, reports another record year of growth in 2012.

Once again the company made Inc. magazine’s “Inc5000,” honoring the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. As a five-time honoree, One Call Now was added to Inc.’s “Honor Roll,” a distinction few companies can claim. One Call Now was also added to Inc’s “Top 100 Telecommunications Companies” and “Top 100 Ohio Companies” for 2012. The recognition is only the latest in a long string of accomplishments, capping off a record year of 20%+ growth and profitability for One Call Now.

The Numbers
One Call Now added over 6,000 clients in 2012. Its bookings of approximately $14M reflect a year-over-year new sales increase of 29%. The message notification provider’s operating income is up 66% from 2011. This follows a ten-year unbroken trend of 20%+ increases over the prior year in both revenue and operating income. New clients include a national leader in property management with over 38,000 apartment homes across the United States. Additionally, One Call Now also garnered a partnership with leading software and technology services provider SunGard K-12 Education. School districts that use SunGard’s solutions will now be able to keep parents informed and communicate quickly in emergency situations. Customer satisfaction continues to be One Call Now’s strength as evidenced by a 97% renewal rate in 2012. The company now serves the largest client base for any notification company in North America. Last year, One Call Now sent over 250 million messages to protect, inform and engage more than 55 million Americans.

The Rewards
District Administration magazine named One Call Now’s school notification services one of its “Top 100 Products for 2012.” Winners are chosen by the quality and quantity of client submissions. Additionally, The Dayton Business Journal recently named One Call Now the #2 telecommunications company in the Dayton area. One Call Now’s continued growth has required physical growth, as well. The company’s employee headcount grew 30% over 2011. One Call Now employees enjoy the benefits of 100% company-paid healthcare, a pet-friendly workplace and onsite MBA classes. As a product of its concern for employees’ health and well-being, One Call Now is one of the Dayton Business Journal’s Healthiest Workplaces for the region.

The Reason
Continuing the tradition of community support and philanthropy, One Call Now gave away $250,000 in paid-employee community service time, donated school levy calls, and funding of local and national charities. In addition, One Call Now supports Kids Read Now, a national summer reading program designed to help educators reduce or eliminate the summer slide in reading scores for elementary students. Kids Read Now experienced an exciting second year with 72 percent of students and parents at participating schools taking part in the program. Based on the President’s drive for third grade reading readiness, One Call Now made a $1 million commitment to developing this program. Kids Read Now distributed tens of thousands of free books to early elementary school students in its first two years, and published groundbreaking statistical studies on summer reading effectiveness.

About One Call Now
Founded in 2002, One Call Now is America’s largest message notification provider, with 20 percent of American households depending on the company for messages that protect, inform, and engage in their businesses, schools, churches, and organizations. For more information, please visit www.onecallnow.com.

Housing Inspections-The Brilliance of a No-Surprises Strategy

Posted on February 22, 2013 by cbrownlee

By: Nick Frantz

I once had a boss who told me it was my job to make sure he was never surprised. I thought that was odd, but over time I realized it was brilliant… because nobody likes a bad surprise.

When it comes to student housing inspections, it’s likely that nothing would surprise your team. But your inspection team is probably not your major concern. It’s your student residents—and their parents— that should not be surprised.

Housing inspections are animosity-building opportunities. It’s human nature; nobody likes to be “inspected.” Just the idea puts student residents on the defensive. And if poorly executed, students end up feeling that their privacy has been violated… and parents end up surprised by an unwelcome fine.

Communications are the key to taking the edge off the inspection process. Here are five tips to help you turn a relationship strain into an organizational gain.

1. Use a reliable means to notify. Inspections should not be a surprise. Most states, municipalities and universities require that you give advance notice. But that doesn’t mean that students will actually receive advance notice. Posting paper notices doesn’t work. Some may actually get read, but they’re often removed before everyone gets the message. (Does anyone ever pass that information on to their parents?) Dates and times are easily forgotten. And it can take a lot of time to make the rounds manually posting notices.

Use the communication method your residents and their parents prefer: voice and text messages to cell phones, email addresses and social media sites. Everyone gets and reads text messages. Plus, they conveniently provide a written record for later reference. A message notification service like One Call Now makes it fast and easy to notify all your contacts, or just a few, with one simple message. Use it to send an initial announcement and then send an automatic reminder notice, too. One Call Now provides automated translations (55 different languages) and real-time documentation that shows your messages were received.

2. Set expectations. It’s a fact, people aren’t happy when their expectations are not met. Compile and publish a list of items that are not permitted (e.g. candles; flammable substances; items hanging from sprinkler heads, overloaded extension cords; blocked exit maps; items left in hallways and stairwells; etc.) Make your rules short and simple. You want them to be read. If possible, make your inspection list available.

3. Tell them why. Publish a statement that explains the rationale for inspections: legal, safety, quality of life, resource management, etc. Make it short and easy to read and understand. Include a list of frequently asked questions and answers. For example:

When do inspections happen?
How do they work?
How will I be notified?
Will you come into my unit if I’m not there?
What happens if you find a violation?

4. Eliminate the “them versus us” factor. Students are heavily engaged with social media building online communities. Make safety and resource management a community-wide effort within their residential community. Or launch a team initiative with teams by building or floor striving for the highest score.

Using One Call Now to communicate with residents and their parents positions you as part of the community. Encourage them to contact with you and your staff. One Call Now makes it easy to instantly respond to your messages. Using One Call Now also supports a “green” community initiative by eliminating paper mailings and flyers.

5. Consider incentivizing a perfect inspection. Free stuff is good and it doesn’t have to drain your budget. Free pizza, gas cards, iTunes. Who doesn’t love an immediate, tangible reward? If volume is a concern, consider a drawing for five, ten, twenty winners.

You and your staff work hard all year to make your property a safe and desirable place to live. Attracting and keeping student residents takes an ongoing commitment, lots of time and lots of effort. It’s about more than just your property. It’s also about building relationships. Don’t let the inspection process threaten your hard-earned relationships. Use a proactive communication plan to position them as a legal and practical necessity that promotes a safe and healthy quality of life.

One Call Now makes it easy to streamline communications, keep students and parents informed and eliminate unwelcome surprises.

Speaking up for Safer Schools

Posted on February 19, 2013 by cbrownlee

Every day, countless children attend school and are ruthlessly harassed. Untold others bring weapons to school, threatening to harm their peers. Still other innumerable youth attempt suicide. And sometimes, disregarded threats become terrifying reality.

We’ll never have precise statistics to assign to these unsettling truths. Even more sobering are the questions we ask after tragedy strikes: Could it have been prevented? In times of grief, it becomes easy to assign blame. Yet the root of the problem is much simpler than a flawed system or a lack of oversight: the problem is silence. The majority of violent offenses committed in schools—as well as knowledge of violence to come—goes unreported.

The sound of silence
Studies examining patterns of school violence reveal that an offender’s peers are often aware of an incident before it occurs. They overhear a student’s threat, or learn the time and place an attack will occur. Yet embarrassment, reluctance to betray friends’ trust—or fear of being targeted themselves—means that this knowledge is seldom reported. Police, teachers, and other authorities lack crucial, potentially life-saving information until it’s too late.

Schools must help students break their silence. But how can students be encouraged to speak up—and still assured of their safety? One measure is to give a school community access to a free, confidential hotline. Callers’ identities are protected, and administrators can take immediate action in response to tips.

Giving victims a voice
One such service is the Safe School Helpline, provided to schools nationwide by Security Voice, Inc. Students, parents, staff, and community members can call regarding any threat to student safety, from weapon possession to sexual harassment, vandalism to drug use and cyber bullying. Security Voice also provides a live, 24-7 suicide helpline, which students can use to speak with trained, certified counselors to get the support they need.

The Safe School Helpline serves more than 6,000 schools, representing more than 1 million students across 15 states. It has recently added Internet and text reporting capabilities, and can translate tips provided in any language.

Of course, a system is only as good as those who use it. That’s why One Call Now is offering Security Voice’s Safe School Helpline access to all of our clients for less than $1 per student or employee each year. In doing so, we hope to help break the cycle of silence, not just in our schools, but also in churches, businesses, and other facilities across the country.

We can’t wipe out violence completely—and we can’t predict the future. But when the unthinkable happens, this is a tool communities won’t want to be without. When people have confidence to speak freely, we’re all safer for it.

To Tow… or Not To Tow? Seven Tips to keep that from being the Question

Posted on February 7, 2013 by cbrownlee

By Nick Frantz

I don’t know a property manager who doesn’t grapple with parking issues. At best, they’re a hassle. At worst, they threaten resident safety, satisfaction and retention. They can even send you to court.

Towing may alienate a resident… but failure to act on a parking problem could alienate many residents. The best solution is a proactive approach that maximizes compliance and minimizes your need to have to make the tough decision. Here are seven tips to help ease parking woes on your property.

1. Understand the parking and towing laws and ordinances in your state and in your municipality. If you don’t already know the laws, an Internet search should yield results. Illegal towing can do more than damage resident relationships. It can be costly. Some states allow the court to award loss of use damages for the illegally towed vehicle. Residents have to prove their case. But win or lose, it’s going to cost you time and money.

2. Have proper legal signage. Posting parking permit and restriction signs on your property is one of the most important actions you can take to ensure and enforce compliance. With effective signage, residents, visitors, staff and vendors should never have any question about where to park.

3. Clearly mark the parking lots and curbs. Sometimes signs disappear, but parking lot stripes and curb paint is permanent. Mark restricted parking areas as clearly as possible; leave nothing to question.

4. Create, publish and distribute a clear, well-defined parking policy. Your policy should spell out—and itemize—exactly:
• Where residents, visitors, staff and vendors may park
• Where residents, visitors, staff and vendors may NOT park
• Snow plow procedures
• Your step-by-step procedure for handling vehicles that violate the parking policy
- It’s a good idea to try to notify the owner, whenever possible, before a vehicle is towed.
- Document your attempts to notify; it will payoff
• Actions to take if someone finds that their car has been towed and how much it will cost

If there are seasonal issues in your area, such as snow or flooding, send timely reminders that reiterate the parking policies and procedures.

5. Review your parking and towing policies with your snow removal and towing vendors. Make sure they understand that only authorized personnel from your staff can request that a vehicle be towed.

6. Personally address parking issues with problem residents. Some parking infractions aren’t as defiant as they may seem to you or to other residents. When parking issues arise, one-on-one notices are far more effective than blanket reminders. It doesn’t have to be a nasty confrontation. Stay calm, refer to your parking policies and rules, and make sure the resident has a copy. Keep a record of your resident contact with the date, time and content.

7. Communicate regularly and always document. Managing your property is your job. But your residents have their own jobs, busy—often hectic—lives, and lots on their minds. Make sure your parking rules don’t slip their minds. Proper signage, marked parking spaces and curbs, a published policy, personal reminders and community-wide announcements all work together to minimize slippage.

It’s important to document all your parking compliance efforts. Take photos of your signage, parking lot, curb markings and any instances of policy violations. Keep a record of all your communications to your residents, whether community-wide or one-on-one. Your documentation should show dates, times, and message content. It should also confirm that your residents received your communications. If a conflict or legal issue arises, all of these will work in your favor.

The name of the game here is to maximize parking compliance and minimize towing instances. It takes a proactive approach, vigilance and a commitment to regular communications with your residents.

For more information regarding resident communication solutions please visit www.onecallnow.com, or call (877) 698-3262 to find out how our text, email and voice messages can work for your community.

Making the Call to Close School… with an App!

Posted on January 25, 2013 by cbrownlee

Safe transport of children on wintery roads plays a key role in determining delays and closings for schools.

Weather is finicky at best in the winter months—this year more than most. Pinpointing whether climate conditions merit a school delay or closing can be a daunting task without a parent notification system.

The ability to assess the situation early in the morning (versus the night before) and choosing to use a notification system to reach thousands of families immediately regarding a delay or closing can simplify the decision tremendously. No longer are school administrators guessing what road conditions will be hours later… they can make the call early in the morning… and send the message via One Call Now’s mobile app.

Mad River Local Schools Superintendent, Necia Nicholas said, “We want to make sure that children are safe getting to school. When it comes to cold weather, make sure that, knowing that they’re standing at bus stops, that we pick them up at a time, that they will be safe and not freezing cold when they’re out there.” Learn more here.

Thousands of schools across the country rely on One Call Now to get the word out in situations just like this one—protecting, informing and engaging their parents, staff and communities with just one call.

Learn more information on One Call Now’s mobile apps at onecallnow.com or call 877.698.3262 to speak with a rep.

You can pick your vegetables, but not your genes…

Posted on April 27, 2012 by cbrownlee

The Supreme Court spent three days listening to arguments on whether or not the Family Health Protection Act I (actual name vs Obama Care!) is constitutional.
Hundreds vied for a seat to watch the spectacle. As the last time the court ruled on powers of congress that mandated purchase of specific items was 70 years ago when the court ruled unanimously that Congress did have this power.

Today our managers met to discuss our company’s health care renewal plans.

The bad news from our agent? Our plan rates are going up by 13%, but we decided to absorb 100% of the increase for all employees. We also decided to triple life insurance— and pay for it all as a company enhanced benefit. We pay 100% of health care for all employees, and 80-100 100% for family plan based on tenure.

Having spent time in an Emergency Room recently, it’s disheartening to see those with no choice, no family doctor, no coverage and no prescription plan who beg and plead for help. As an executive, it’s frustrating to know that their unpaid bills are the major cause of our insurance plan increases…

Many will argue that no one should be forced to pay for health care if they don’t want it. Some compare it to being forced to eat broccoli. That analogy is wrong. People choose their vegetables, but they do not choose their genes, viruses, bacterial infections, cardiovascular disease, or accidental injuries.

We provide company paid health care for everyone because it helps our people, their families, our community (and yes, our barely perceptible turnover). Given time, The new mandate will lower our overall costs, while eliminating the threat of uncovered catastrophic illness for all.

How much more justification is necessary?

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