Please note that we have added an Emergency School Closing mailbox to our phone system. When you call Del Val's main number, 908-996-2131, press the * key for closings or delays.
More Information and Help:
When used, the service will call all phone numbers in our selected parent contact lists and will deliver a recorded message from a school administrator. The service will deliver the message to both live answers and answering machines. No answers (phones ringing over 40 sec.) and busy signals will automatically be retried twice in fifteen-minute intervals after the initial call.
Please Note the Following:
This requires NO registration by the parent on the SchoolMessenger website. However, each year you can update your information when you register your student in PowerSchool Registration. If you need to make changes during the year, you will need to call Colleen LeBoeuf at extension 6203. All information and contact numbers are strictly secure and confidential and are only used for the purposes described herein.
Here is some specific information you should know:
Caller ID: The Caller ID will display: 9089962131, which is the main number for our school.
Live Answers: There is a short pause at the beginning of the message, usually a few seconds. Answer your phone as you normally would, “hello” and hold for the message to begin. Multiple “hellos” will delay the message. Inform all family members who may answer your phone of this process.
Answering Machines: The system will detect that your machine has answered and will play the recording to your machine. The phone will ring for up to 40 seconds. Make sure that your machine answers after four rings or you may miss the message.
Message Repeat: At the end of the message you will be prompted to ‘press any key’ to hear the message again. This is very helpful when a child answers the phone and hands it to a parent, who can then ‘repeat’ the message in its entirety.
Attendance: We will also be using SchoolMessenger for daily attendance, so you will be notified each day that your child misses a required number of classes. To minimize these calls, make sure to inform the school when you KNOW your child will miss classes on a given day.
SchoolMessenger, the service provider, uses the best available technology in the industry to detect the difference between a human answer, a machine, or a voicemail answer.
Here’s how detection works:
The system detects and measures the voice energy when the phone is answered.
The system measures this energy in combination with the background noise and line impairments.
If the system determines that it is a “live” answer, it will immediately start playing the message.
If the system determines that it is a machine, it will wait for three full seconds of silence before playing the message with a maximum wait time of twenty seconds.
If the system cannot make a determination, it will default to the answering machine, thus requiring several seconds of silence for the message to play. In this case, you may hear a prompt to “press any key to hear the message immediately.”
Some reasons for false detection:
Loud background noise; television, radio, and a generally noisy environment.
A cordless phone that has static or other foreign noises.
Not saying “hello” or repeatedly saying “hello.”
Cellular phones, which when called, have the ‘ring back tones’ music option.
Answering machine/voice mail greetings that are too long or have long pauses in speech.
What can be done to remedy this?
Do not say “hello” more than once. If the system detects your answer incorrectly, all noise will reset the three-second counter.
If after you answer, the message does not immediately play, cover the mouthpiece of the phone to cut out all background noise. The message should begin after three seconds.
Please make every effort to provide the school with current and accurate phone information any time there is a change to ensure that you do not miss important information.
What to do if you think you’ve missed a SchoolMessenger voice message:
If you ever feel you may have missed a SchoolMessenger voice message/email alert or just want to check to be sure, log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal. On the left-hand column, click 'Grades and Attendance,' then click 'School Messenger,' and that will bring you to SchoolMessenger. In SchoolMessenger, you will see all messages from the last 30 days. You will see the date it was sent, the name of the broadcast, who sent it, and “Actions.” Click on the buttons underneath “Actions” to read/listen to the alert.
If you have any questions, please contact Yvonne Magala at (908) 996-2131 x6302.
