SchoolMessenger

The Oneida City School District uses the SchoolMessenger calling system to keep parents and staff members informed. SchoolMessenger is a trusted platform to communicate on a mass scale for any school emergencies, school-related cancellations, or non-emergency community engagement events. The system works by delivering a pre-recorded telephone message, text message, or e-mail to contacts specified by parents and staff members.

 

Common Questions and Answers:


How many numbers can I specify?

We use the primary numbers specified with your child's enrollment information. If you wish to change any information, please be sure to contact Lori Cimpi in student registration at 315-361-6072 or follow the directions below for the 'Guardian Model' as to how to update on your own. 

How do I change the numbers being called?

Phone numbers for SchoolMessenger are collected during the enrollment process or by filling out this form. You can e-mail this form to Lori Cimpi at [email protected] or by faxing the form to 315-366-0253.

Any time your phone number has changed, you are encouraged to contact the student registration office to update your child’s records.  Lori Cimpi in student registration can be reached at 315-361-6072. Alternatively, you can download the SchoolMessenger App or visit this website (go.schoolmessenger.com) and follow the steps to change how you would like to be contacted. 

The district made a change in July 2019 to something called the "Guardian Model". How does that impact how I change phone numbers? 

With the current model, families needed to contact student registration to change how they want to be contacted for robo calls. As a Student, Parent or Guardian, you can customize how you receive messages through an app or web account. 

Transitioning to the ‘Guardian’ model will reset every household back to the system's default settings (call, text, and email). Therefore, if you’ve had a customized calling structure in place previously, individuals will have to adjust those settings through the SchoolMessenger app, website, or student registration office.

Anyone listed in our student management system, SchoolTool, who is the primary contact, receives mail, or has parent portal access is considered a student guardian and whose contact information will be available in the SchoolMessenger app or website under the ‘Guardian’ model.

*After updating your preferences, you will need to opt in to receive text messages by texting the word "YES" to 67587. 

For more information, click HERE for the memo that went home in June 2019. 

For directions on how to use the guardian model click HERE. 

Can students sign up for notifications? 

Yes. Students in grades 6-12 can be signed up by a legal guardian or parent. For more information about SchoolMesssenger for students, please click HERE.  

How do I find the SchoolMessenger App? 

You can visit the App Store or Google Play Store on your mobile device by searching for SchoolMessenger. Or simply follow this link to be redirected.  go.schoolmessenger.com


Do I need a smartphone to change how I get contacted?

No. Guardians can still manage their preferences simply by going to go.schoolmessenger.com. The preference control center has the same functionality as the app, minus the push notifications.

If I change my contact information (phone number, email address), how long does it take until that change is in effect?

It can take up to 24 hours for your contact information to be synced from Schooltool to SchoolMessenger.

 

How Do I Sign Up for Text Messaging?

Parents and guardians may opt in to receive an SMS message to the wireless number the District has on file.

After filling out and returning the form, parents and guardians need to opt in by texting the word “YES” to 67587. Parents can unsubscribe at any time by texting the word “Stop” to the same number. 

Please note that the District does not pay for text message charges that may be incurred by the user. These charges are dependent on the wireless plan of the user. Please check with your carrier for possible charges before deciding to “opt in.”

 

I signed up for e-mail notifications, but I don’t see it in my inbox. What happened to the message?

Email should never be considered a primary source for emergency notifications, as many factors can affect the length of time between the message being sent and your mail inbox receiving that message. This is why our primary notification channel is voice. E-mail provides a supplementary channel of notification.

In addition, a mass notification e-mail can trigger a spam/bulk email detection flag by some email servers, thus preventing immediate delivery to your inbox.

 

Why do you call some people and not others?

When an emergency affects some of the school population, but not all of it, only the people affected will be notified. For example, if an elementary school is closed due to a power failure, only the parents and staff members in that school will be notified. This allows us to ensure that we're not needlessly notifying parents of situations that do not affect them.

 

I missed part of the message. How do I listen again?

At any time during the message, you can restart the message by pressing your "*" key on your phone.

 

Why is my answering machine recording only half of the message?

If the answering machine greeting is sporadic with various periods of silence or does not start playing within three seconds, the system may read this as a live person and begin playing the message before the machine has started recording.

Alternately, if the answering machine is set to record for a specific amount of time (e.g., 30 seconds) and the SchoolMessenger message runs longer than that, this will also result in message cut-off.

 

My caller ID showed that the school had called, but there was no voicemail. Why?

The system will ring a line up to six times. If your answering machine is set to pick up on seven or more rings, the message may not be delivered to your machine.

In addition, if your voice mail greeting, begins with "Hello", it may confuse the messenger system into thinking that it has reached a live individual. When this happens, if your voice mail greeting is longer than the emergency message, then messenger system will recognize that it has played back the full emergency message and will not leave the emergency message on your voice mail. If you also use a music service that plays a song prior to the call ringing to your phone, this can create the same issue.

 

Will the system call phone numbers with extensions?

ScholMessenger cannot navigate phone menus and is unable to dial extensions.

 

I have a telemarketer screening device or service. How will that affect the call?

These services prevent “unknown” calls from being delivered to your phone. Emergency calls launched through SchoolMessenger will display the number of the school calling on the caller ID. Parents can contact their phone company and request that the following numbers be added to their list of allowed callers.

District Office (315) 363-2550

Durhamville Elementary (315) 363-8065

North Broad Elementary (315) 363-3650

Oneida High School (315) 363-6901

Otto Shortell Middle School (315) 363-1050

Seneca Street Elementary School (315) 363-3930

Willard Prior Elementary School (315) 363-2190

 

I received a phone call/email from your district and I don’t have any students in your district. How can I get removed from your list?

Should you be receiving phone calls or emails intended for our parents/guardians and would like to be removed from the SchoolMessenger contact list, please call Lori Cimpi in student registration at 315-361-6072.