By Travis Dillard, Inflow Communications
This is the final post in a three-part series on how next-generation unified communications systems can dramatically improve student safety. To read the first two posts in this series, click here and here .
If you haven’t read the first two articles in this series, you’ve missed a breakdown of why antiquated phone systems and student safety don’t mix, and a real-world illustration of how a next-generation unified communications system can dramatically improve student safety. Our work with Beaverton School District serves as the perfect proof point of the value of this technology (and you can read all about that partnership in this great article).
If you have read those articles, the argument for implementing a new phone is probably clear. What might not be so obvious is how exactly your school district can secure the funding necessary to make those changes. I get it. Finding money for these kinds of updates isn’t easy — particularly at a time when many schools are facing budget cuts.
But I have a solution that should make the battle a little less arduous: Qualified Collaborative Contracts.
More specifically, the collaborative contract we signed with the Beaverton School District can be replicated by your school district to avoid the painful, often-lengthy RFP process. Also, because our contract was specifically written around safety (i.e., how our technology and services can dramatically improve it), pitching the contract is much simpler. Here are a few reasons this contract is beneficial to your school district (and how you can go about using it):
● No need for RFP: Beaverton has done the RFP homework for you. They hired a consultant, collected highly competitive proposals from a number of reputable vendors, and wrote the contract in a way that other schools can leverage it.
● R&D is complete: With the BSD project complete, all of the research and development for the system is complete and Inflow can now replicate that implementation with the same contract terms for any other school district. This benefit alone can save your school district a significant amount of time and money.
● Competitive pricing: Because the BSD contract was so heavily competed, it offers some of the best pricing available to school districts, while also delivering the highest quality technology and services. I know of several other K-12 school districts and municipalities already taking advantage of the contract, and it’s likely that your procurement office will view it favorably.
● Real results: In a short period of time, BSD is already seeing significant improvements in student safety (like a 1,000% improvement in 911 response times). These are real-world results that your school district can leverage to make a clear and compelling argument for funding.
It’s worth pointing out again that the Beaverton School District fought for years to get funding to replace its old phone system. During that time, BSD made a number of compelling arguments around the technological benefits of the new unified communications system, but the scales tipped in their favor when the district positioned the investment around its ability to improve student safety.
This is the real value of Beaverton’s collaborative contract. The contract is fair and competitive, and the technology is top-of-the line. But because the contract is framed around the very real ways in which this technology can improve student safety, it makes pitching it a no-brainer. If you’d like to learn more about what exactly a collaborative contract is and how your school district can leverage the one we created with Beaverton, please reach out to me directly. I’d be happy to share details.
About Inflow Communications:
Founded in 1997, Inflow is one of the nation’s top Unified Communications and Contact Center consultants in today’s market. Pioneers in cloud unified communications and cloud contact center success, Inflow is the first company to provide contact center consulting and training focused solely on helping you elevate your customer experience.
With over 200,000 endpoints supported under Inflow’s innovative success programs around the world, Inflow built its brand and reputation around providing unrivaled customer support. Inflow is in Mitel/ShoreTel’s top 2% in global customer satisfaction, and quickly acquiring a top spot with RingCentral, Genesys PureCloud and NICE inContact.
By partnering with Inflow, you can expect the highest level of strategic consultation, execution, and optimization available in the industry.
