Newsletter April 2019

BRIGHTARROW
PARENT COMMUNICATIONS NEWSLETTER

NEW FEATURE — Unlimited Length Text Messages

One of the bigger challenges of mass notification is that notification systems limit your text message length, typically to 160 characters. BrightArrow is just introducing a new approach to text messages which gives you an unlimited number of characters.

The idea is that if your text message is under 160 characters, it just sends it like it always has. But if your text message is over 160 characters, it will show most of the first 160 characters but also displays a link to press to see the whole message. For example, let’s say that your text message is:

Today Massitrinkl Schools are cancelling school early due to the impending storm. For students at the high school, dismissal is at 1:20pm. For the middle schools, it is 1:10pm, and for the elementary schools the dismissal is 12:45pm. Transportation will be taking students home at that time. After school programs are also cancelled. Please be safe.

With the prior version, you would need to reduce the message to 160 characters. But with the new version, you can leave the whole message and the text recipient will see the following on their mobile phone:

Then when they press on the link at the end of the first text, they see this:

This new feature is complete and available immediately for all users, whether it be school administrators or teachers. So that we do not disrupt current usage with new features, we will not automatically turn it on for all customers until summer. But if you want it enabled for your account, however, just send a message to: GetTechSupport@BrightArrow.com and we'll immediately enable this feature for your district or school.

No additional charge!

Toll-Free Number
As Caller ID

At BrightArrow, we pride ourselves on the receptivity and quality of our customer support. We are available 24 hours per day, every day! We are here to help you with any questions you may have, but we also listen
to your suggestions. Our development team is always developing new features that add functionality and value to your BrightArrow notification platform. The new features we create are almost always free, and we would like to tell you about one such feature that is a hit with administrators across the country. The idea behind this feature is when a voicemail message is left on a parent’s, student’s or staff’s phone and they hit “Callback,” our system will identify who it is that is calling and plays back the last message that was sent to “that” particular number.

BrightArrow's
Emergency Hotline Features

BrightArrow’s Emergency Hotline, or Panic Button, allows you to easily send an alert quickly to either: (1) some of your staff, (2) all of your staff, or (3) parents and staff. BrightArrow’s Panic Button and Emergency Hotlines can be adapted into your Safety Plan. Organizations have different safety plans. The BrightArrow alert mechanisms are so simple, inexpensive, and easy to configure that it does not have to replace other items in your plan. It can be your primary internal alert system, or your backup mechanism. It can fill in gaps in your plan or become the main safety communication component. Click below to learn many of the
ways this feature can be adapted into your organization.

Expanded
Create Message Page

Last year BrightArrow introduced its Expanded Create Message page. If you acquired the BrightArrow system within the past year you probably are already using this page. If you started using the system before then, you can move over to the Expanded Create Message page with two clicks.You have the option of using the word processing buttons within the BrightArrow interface or use your favorite editor and paste the content into the BrightArrow page. You can also attach PDF files and other non-HTML content as linked attachments. Regardless of how much you customize your email layout, you can still send out voice calls and text messages from the same Expanded Create Message page all as a single action.

We offer the bundled combination of:
Notification + Branded App + Website

You have the option of combining and customizing to your preferences using BrightArrow’s system.
Our feature-rich products are both powerful and reliable.

Contact Sales@BrightArrow.com to set up a demo today!

Tips For Sending A Better Email

The BrightArrow interface allows you to send emails as if they were coming from your own email domain. This is a great way to make sure your intended recipients see the message as something from you rather than something that looks like spam. While the email looks like it comes from you, it actually is sent from the BrightArrow servers. This is a common technique used by phishing sites trying to trick people into clicking on a fake list to gather their personal information and as such many email clients will now see these emails as junk mail.

When you send through BrightArrow, you are not phishing -- you’re sending valuable information to specific people. In order to increase the likelihood of your message not being automatically added to someone’s spam folder we suggest updating your email service to know that you are allowing valid emails to come through our servers on your behalf.

We support SPF and DKIM mechanisms, and are further expanding our DKIM options. These methods can reduce the number of messages falsely marked as spam by your recipient emails clients.

Different Options For Setting Up Your Email Configuration
From The Administrator User Accounts Pages
Sending from your domain vs. replying to your domain.
BrightArrow allows you to send from your domain using our servers or allowing our servers to send as BrightArrow but setting the “reply to” portion of the email to your domain.

Default Setting

Send and Reply using BrightArrow address.

The servers will send as:

Notification-Do_Not_Reply@brightarrow.com

Sending As
Your Own Domain

By adding our information to your SPF record, we can send emails from our server as if we are your server.

Once the SPF record is updated and someone from BrightArrow has made the necessary changes, you can change your default email addresses in the user settings as seen below.

Using Your Domain As
The Reply To

The third option is a hybrid of these. You do not need to update your SPF record as the server
will continue to use the

Notification-Do_Not_Reply@brightarrow.com

email address as the sender. However, the email address from your domain will be used as the reply to address. This way bounces come back to us and can be included in the report, but real replies get sent back to you.

Adding Message Prefix/Suffix

You have the option within BrightArrow to have any of your messages (voice messages, emails, text messages) contain automatic prefix/header or suffix/footer information. For example, if you want your messages to end with instructions on how to opt out, that can be added. Alternatively, you may want your voice messages to always start with a prerecorded introduction, like, “This is a message from JPR Schools. You may hear this message again at any time by pressing the Star key.”

In fact, you can provide explicit opt-out options to message recipients of all message types:

• For voice calls, you can instruct the call recipient to call 1-844-636-6543 to be added to the Do Not Contact list. If you want, we will gladly append that instruction to the end of all of your phone calls.
• For text messages, text recipients can opt-out by replying with STOP. Upon request, we can automatically append those instructions to your text message.
• For emails, we can provide you a “Do Not Subscribe” link that allows email recipients to automatically opt-out of emails.

www.BrightArrow.com
Sales@BrightArrow.com
(425) 558-2100

BrightArrow Technologies, Inc.
PO Box 7493
Bellevue, WA 98008 USA

(c)BrightArrow Technologies, Inc. - All rights reserved.