FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Click here for PDF version)

Ohio School Boards Association endorses Leader Alert®

Alerting product provides early warning for parents,
staff in emergency situations

Leader Alert, the creation of Leader Technologies of Columbus, Ohio, makes it possible for a school to quickly and simultaneously alert thousands of parents and staff by telephone, texting, and email in case of emergencies ranging from lurking predators to snow days.

According to OSBA Deputy Executive Director Rob Delane: “Unfortunate events happening across the country have made the need to send out emergency update alerts almost a necessity. Schools need an easy and effective way to notify parents and staff members about incidents that may arise during the school year.”

Leader Chairman Mike McKibben sees the OSBA/Leader partnership as “a natural” and cited Parma City Schools, which has used Leader Alert since September 2006, as an example. “They used our product to notify all their parents within minutes of an armed attacker being apprehended while trying to enter the school. They also use Leader Alert for everyday applications, like notifying parents when a school bus returns late from a school field trip.”

Delane noted that OSBA study and testing pinpointed three key reasons for their choice of Leader Alert.  “One, it was easy to use.  Two, schools can use it with their current technologies, and three, it can effectively notify large numbers of individuals almost simultaneously.”

Delane stressed the benefits that the endorsement provides for member schools.  “School boards count on OSBA to do the appropriate research before lending its name to a particular product or service.  OSBA’s research indicates that Leader Alert is superior to other alerting systems and cost effective for school districts.”

As Delane pointed out:  “The OSBA is very selective about its endorsements and will not endorse a product or service unless it meets certain criteria.”  He called Leader Alert “reliable and effective,” adding “we also see a significant benefit for use in our disaster planning efforts.” 

Leader’s alerting and audio conferencing services were used extensively by the Louisiana Governor's Office in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, after many of the state's other communications systems had failed. Leader Alert has diverse applications ranging from terrorist attack simulations to early storm warnings to boat owners, and it is currently in use as a health and safety alerting tool on school and college campuses across the United States.

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About Ohio School Boards Association
The Ohio School Boards Association is a private, not-for-profit statewide organization of public school boards. Founded in 1955, OSBA's purpose is to encourage and advance public education through local citizen responsibility. Truly member driven, OSBA's policies are determined by its members. Membership in OSBA is open to all public school boards. OSBA office, contact (614) 540-4000. Online: www.osba-ohio.org

About Leader
Leader Technologies Incorporated is a software development and marketing company that has brought new Web 2.0 and phone innovations to unified communications, creating new technology bridges across voice, stream media and data systems. Its technology framework, named the Digital Leaderboard® system – U.S. Patent No. 7,139,761 – provides an array of communications services to commerce, education and government. Leader’s current brands include Leader Phone® and Leader Dialog® for audio conferencing, Leader Alert® for alerting services, and Leader News® for alerting with news services. Leader provided the primary communications and collaboration system for the Governor of Louisiana in the state’s Hurricane Katrina disaster response. Leader has also provided counter terrorism support to the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense. Following the Virginia Tech tragedy, Leader Alert® is now deployed with increasing frequency within secondary and higher education for school safety and security applications. For additional information, contact (614) 890-1986. Online: www.leader.com