Phone System for Schools and Daycares: Back-to-School

A phone system for schools and daycares should send parents to the right person in one key press, ring several staff during drop-off, switch to break hours by itself, and send the right address to 911. Here is how to set that up before the first week of school.

In much of Georgia, the school year starts in early August. If you run a private school, a daycare, an after-school program, a tutoring center or a pediatric office, the phones get busy right about now. Parents call about enrollment, schedules, pickup times, forms and physicals.

What Should Parents Hear When They Call?

An auto attendant (the "press 1 for…" phone menu) sends callers to the right place without someone at the front desk transferring every call. Keep the options short and in the order parents need them most:

• To report an absence, press 1.
• For enrollment or new families, press 2.
• For billing, press 3.
• For the front desk, press 0.

For a pediatric office, the options might be appointments, prescription refills, billing and a nurse line. A dial-by-name directory helps parents who know the teacher or staff member they want. For wording help, see our phone menu script examples.

An absence line that goes straight to a voicemail box, with messages delivered to email, saves the front desk dozens of short calls each morning.

How Do You Handle the Drop-Off Rush?

During drop-off and pickup, the front desk is busy with families in person. A call group rings several phones at once, so a director or office manager can pick up instead. If calls stack up, a call queue lets callers wait in line with hold music and hands them to the next person who is free.

How Can Staff Reach Each Other Across the Building?

Teachers are in classrooms, staff are on the playground, and the director is in a meeting. Intercom lets you talk through a colleague's desk phone speaker. Paging lets you make an announcement to every phone at once, useful for a schedule change or an early dismissal. Staff who move around can use the Telonium app on a cell phone to answer their line anywhere. The full list is on our phone system features page.

What Should Happen to Calls After Hours and Over Breaks?

Parents call at all hours. Each number has a weekly schedule of days and time ranges, with an "at all other times" route for when you are closed; point that route at a recorded greeting with your hours and a voicemail box.

School breaks are where holiday hours help. Add each break to the number ahead of time, with a name like "Winter break," a first and last day (up to 31 days) and a break greeting. On those dates the regular schedule steps aside, and it comes back by itself when school resumes. You can enter the whole year's breaks in August. For a pediatric office, include clear after-hours instructions for urgent needs, and always tell callers to hang up and dial 911 in an emergency.

Does Your Phone System Send the Right Location to 911?

Anywhere children are, emergency planning matters. Federal rules require that anyone can dial 911 directly from a business phone system, and that your street address and suite or floor go to 911 with the call.

Telonium supports both, while your phones have power and internet and their addresses are registered; keep a mobile phone for outages. The location can come from the desk phone, the office network, or a location the user sets, and it can name the building, floor or room. Check each location this month, especially if you moved phones or rearranged classrooms over the summer.

Can You Handle Forms Without a Fax Machine?

Schools still exchange some forms by fax: enrollment paperwork, transfer requests, vendor orders. Virtual fax delivers incoming faxes as PDFs by email, and you can send the same way.

Can You Text Parents from the School Number?

Yes. Business texting lets you send and receive texts on your main number after a one-time registration that tells the mobile phone companies who you are and what kinds of texts you send. You can apply for registration online.

Back-to-School Checklist

• Update your greeting with the new school year's hours.
• Add an absence line or the options parents use most.
• Set up a call group for drop-off and pickup.
• Enter this year's breaks in your number's holiday hours.
• Check the 911 location for every phone.
• Show new staff how to use intercom, paging and transfers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Teachers Answer Calls on Their Own Phones?

Yes. With the Telonium app, staff can answer their line on a cell phone and call out showing the school's number.

Can We Set Up Every School Break at Once?

Yes. A number can hold up to 30 holidays, each up to 31 days long. Dates do not repeat, so enter next year's breaks next summer.

Can We Page Every Phone at Once?

Yes. Paging announces to every phone at once, and intercom lets you speak through one colleague's speaker.

Here is to a good school year. If you would like help with any of these settings, call our team at 404-566-8888.