Inflow & Beaverton School District Making Schools Safer!

inflow children
Unseen and behind all the activities, classroom learning, and assemblies of the Beaverton School District, will be a silent and secure new guard throughout the school system. Inflow Communications has installed more than a new telecommunications system, provided by the passage of a $680 million school bond last year. The company has deployed multifaceted communication technologies that will increase efficiency, safety and security. The new system replaces decades-old antiquated equipment saving thousands of dollars for the district.

Ahead of schedule and under budget, this summer Portland-based Inflow Communications integrated an on-site, comprehensive, multi-unit communications system in 33 Beaverton schools, and the Transportation and the Administration Center. The Inflow system also includes automated safety and security features that are unified and fully redundant. The Beaverton School District now has an infrastructure that is “fail-safe,” which means that the Inflow-installed system is capable of instantly taking over communication controls from any communication point in case of a communication unit interruption, including the core site.

With the new system, teachers, staff, and students will be able to communicate from virtually any customized device – video, audio, desktop sharing, conferencing, work stations, smartphones, tablets, instant messaging (IM), IP handsets and other systems. This new multi-unit communication system makes instant communication possible on multiple devices between schools, offices and external communications. For example, the Inflow Communications system, which exclusively utilizes ShoreTel technologies, increases safety by transmitting specific directions to first-responders.

“We wanted a system that provided additional security features that tied to our paging system, and provided first responders with more specific information where an incident may be occurring,” says Administrator for Technology Services, Jordan Beveridge.

In 2015 and 2016, additional automated safety features that will assist internal and external communications are scheduled for deployment.

The Beaverton School District regularly collaborates with other school and government systems to share best practices to keep students learning in the best possible circumstances. To that end, the RFP that Inflow competed for and won was written as an “assumable RFP,” also known as a “cooperative RFP.” It is available to other school districts and government agencies. For information about utilizing the Beaverton RFP, please contact the Beaverton School District Business Office 503-356-4500 and/or Inflow Communications.

Inflow was founded in 1996 and President Travis Dillard took over the company in 2009. Since 2012, the company has been listed as one of the fastest growing private companies by The Portland Business Journal and The Denver Business Journal. Inflow Communications now supports over 70,000 international endpoints for over 400 clients and has grown to offices in Portland, Seattle, Dallas, Los Angles and The Bay Area.


FAQ

Q: New technologies for security, safety and cost-effective efficiencies – how do they do it?

A: Portland-based Inflow Communications offers unique on-site, premise-based unified communications systems that can be integrated into cloud technologies like Microsoft Office as well as pure cloud and cloud / on-site hybrid communications technologies. Yet Inflow’s flexibility allows for, if needed, portable off-site kits. This summer, Inflow deployed and integrated a, “single image,” multi-unit communication system in 33 Beaverton schools and administration buildings and The Battle Ground Public School System in Washington state, among other projects. The company has been listed as one of the fastest growing private companies by The Portland Business Journal and The Denver Business Journal for two years in a row. Inflow Communications now supports over 70,000 international endpoints for over 400 clients with offices in Portland, Seattle, Dallas, Los Angles and The Bay Area.

Inflow’s success is based on superior customer service, extensive staff expertise, a high ratio of ShoreTel advanced certified engineers and a staff motivated because they are trained to be part of a team dedicated to reliable, time-tested ShoreTel technology combined with leadership that has made Inflow one of the one fastest growing communications companies worldwide.

“We maintain a culture that empowers individual employees that creates a team of professional expertise. Our work environment is extremely exciting because of our expanding success,” says Travis Dillard, President, (see case study summary on Beaverton School District).

Q. How is Inflow delivering these innovative technologies differently?

A. Inflow as a company has carved out a niche as one of the five top ShoreTel companies nationally, by providing their customers with multiple points of interactive communication utilized for safety, and crisis, to reduce staff time, and to create multiple operational efficiencies. Inflow Communications designs, deploys, and supports ShoreTel technology. Competitors that use older, legacy telephony technology systems for communications often do not have a complete understanding of voice over Internet protocols (VOIP), complex networks, or of cloud-based communication technologies. Other competing organizations offer too many software systems and equipment choices. They rarely commit to understanding the nuances of one enterprise-class system like ShoreTel, as a result, customers are confused about their software and complex and expensive communication equipment needs.

“We believe that to provide a high level of expertise and support for complex communications technologies, a system integrator must focus on, and become experts in, a very narrow selection of manufacturers and platforms. Every one of our employees, from technical staff to sales, has a deep understanding of ShoreTel. We’re literally deploying a new system every day. If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing,” says Inflow’s President, Travis Dillard.

Inflow’s customer satisfaction efforts were recently acknowledged by ShoreTel for outstanding customer service, maintaining an  easy-to-access online support portal, for programs to safeguard against system failure with its extensive support packages and ShoreTel training sessions

Additionally, because Inflow Communications has dedicated itself exclusively to ShoreTel technologies (ShoreTel was established in 1996), Inflow Communications can focus on customer service, reliability, and a highly reactive response rate for its customers with well-established and time-tested technology.

Inflow Communications recently received The Outstanding Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Award presented to ShoreTel sales partners who have received an exceptional Net Promoter Score, or NPS that “surpasses what is considered world-class levels of customer care in the industry.” Net Promoter Score is regarded as the worldwide standard for organizations to measure, understand and improve their customer experience and measures not only customer satisfaction but also whether or not customers would recommend Inflow Communications to other businesses.

Case study summary: This past summer, Inflow deployed multifaceted communication technologies that increase efficiency and security and make students safer in Beaverton School District Schools.

Ahead of schedule and under budget, Inflow Communications integrated an on-site, comprehensive, multi-unit communications system in 33 Beaverton schools, and the Transportation and Administration Center. The Inflow system also includes automated safety and security features that are unified and fully redundant. The Beaverton School District now has an infrastructure that is “fail-safe,” which means that the Inflow-installed system is capable of instantly taking over communication controls from any communication point in case of a communication unit interruption, including the core site.

With the new system, teachers, staff, and students will communicate from virtually any customized device – video, audio, desktop sharing, conferencing, work stations, smartphones, tablets, instant messaging (IM), IP handsets, and other systems. This new multi-unit communication system makes instant communication possible on multiple devices between schools, offices, and external communication. For example, The Inflow Communications system, which exclusively utilizes ShoreTel technologies, increases safety by transmitting specific directions to first-responders.

“We wanted a system that provided additional security features that tied to our paging system, and provided first responders with more specific information where an incident may be occurring,” says Administrator for Technology Services, Jordan Beveridge.

In 2015 and 2016, additional automated safety features that will assist internal and external communications are scheduled for deployment by Inflow.

Q: What is the history that defined and created Inflow Communications?

A: Portland-based, Inflow Communications, opened its doors in 1996. President Travis Dillard took over Inflow leadership and ownership in 2009. His background includes years of service in the United States Air Force, where his responsibilities included telephonic and engineering expertise as he traveled the world to take on a variety of complex assignments that focused on his skills in tactical voice, satellite communication, and global wide area networks. Travis graduated Summa Cum Laude from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

After his service, Travis saw a need to leverage communications technologies for more than just audio communications. He foresaw the need for cloud-based, IP-based, and mobile communications technology with endpoints that involved multiple communication tools (such as smartphones, pagers, audio systems, and a variety of existing and evolving computer systems). He decided that, in the complex world of communication technology, there was a unique opportunity to engage with the time-tested technologies available through ShoreTel’s IP PBX platform. ShoreTel, one of the most established and proven Unified Communications providers in the industry, utilizes an IP PBX system with a unique modular design that distributes system intelligence across all devices on an organization’s network. Automatic failover is built-in, yielding 99.999 percent availability – the highest in the industry. This technology can be instantly transferred from one console to another, with the option of a portable kit to increase security, boost efficiency, and save time on deployment and administration tasks

Q: Where can I find demonstrations and more information?

A: Inflow is the custodian for at least one “assumable RFP” also known as “cooperate RFP” for use by school districts and government agencies. For demonstration and more information on Inflow’s multitude of security, safety, and communication systems: 503-575-7530, www.inflowcomm.com. For information about utilizing the Beaverton RFP, please contact the Beaverton School District Business Office at 503-356-4500 and/or Inflow Communications (503) 575-7531, www.inflowcomm.com.

About Inflow

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 acquired 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.