WASHINGTON, July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blackboard Inc.
(Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced several enhancements to its
AlertNow™ and Blackboard Connect™ mass notification
services for K-12 districts and schools. Following the recent
acquisition of the AlertNow service, these upgrades demonstrate
Blackboard's continued commitment to the needs of K-12 customers
and its focus on improving student engagement and achievement
through advances in communications technology.
"K-12 schools continue to expand their use of mass notification
services to enhance the teaching and learning process and engage
communities in student success," said Ed
Miller, President of Blackboard Connect. "We will continue
to lead the industry in delivering solutions that help connect
parents, teachers and students to meet each of their performance
objectives."
The Blackboard Connect platform has added significant feature
enhancements, including rich-text HTML e-mail that enables users to
create and send e-mails with formatted text, embedded images and
hyperlinks using an intuitive interface. Other enhancements
include:
- Document links that let users safely share documents via email
notifications without the capacity and delivery challenges
associated with traditional file attachments
- Enhanced accessibility of Blackboard Connect messages,
including automatically detecting teletypewriter (TTY) devices for
the hearing and speech-impaired
- Automated weather alerts during severe weather events, based on
data from the National Weather Service/National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
Blackboard Connect is also launching Behind the
Blackboard™, a knowledge base for both Blackboard's AlertNow
and Blackboard Connect clients that includes 24-hour access to
on-demand help information, communication best practices for school
districts, and community discussion boards.
Blackboard has also introduced enhancements to the AlertNow
service for K-12 districts and schools, including the rich-text
HTML e-mail feature. AlertNow's email tool also now includes
spell-check and database mail-merge functions. Additional
enhancements include:
- Sample scripts to create and use pre-sent message templates to
ensure uniform communication and speed distribution of alerts in
urgent situations
- Print-ready reports, enhanced data integration and automation,
and telephone replay options for AlertNow message
recipients
AlertNow clients also now have access to Blackboard Connect
for Teachers™, a powerful service for improving parental
involvement released for Blackboard Connect clients earlier this
year. Blackboard Connect for Teachers puts the power of mass
notification in the hands of classroom instructors, allowing them
to communicate easily with students' families – in any of 22
languages – helping parents intervene in their child's academic
performance or classroom behavior and avert undesired results.
Keyes Union School District in Central
California is among the first institutions to benefit from
the combination of Blackboard Connect and AlertNow. The
district recently selected the AlertNow mass notification service
including Blackboard Connect for Teachers tool as part of their
package. "We're excited about the potential that both AlertNow and
Blackboard Connect for Teachers brings to our district," said
Karen Poppen, Superintendent at
Keyes USD. "We're looking forward to putting these tools to work
for student safety, parental involvement and academic
achievement."
For more information about Blackboard's mass notification
solutions, visit
http://www.blackboard.com/Alert-Notification/Resources/Landing-Page.aspx
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise
technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of
millions of students and learners around the world every day.
Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12,
professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend
teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and
security, and communicate more effectively with their communities.
Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia
and Australia.
Any statements in this press release about future
expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other
statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans,"
"expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ
materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements
as a result of various important factors, including the factors
discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-Q filed
on May 7, 2010 with the SEC. In
addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press
release represent the Company's views as of July 9, 2010. The Company anticipates that
subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views
to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as
representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to
July 9, 2010.
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.