14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless carrier Sprint seems to be highly interested in providing the best for kids and schools and we can't really blame them for doing that. Broward County Public Schools, in South Florida, is the first school district in the U.S. to implement a real-time, location-based wireless weather alert system.
The system uses Sprint GPS-enabled handsets that are also equipped with a weather alert application from WeatherBug which will notify the staff of severe weather conditions that could threaten the safety of athletes, coaches, students and spectators. Any school within range of a severe weather threat will receive alerts from the system.
"WeatherBug Protect provides a secure, easy-to-use service, helping to safeguard people during critical and time-sensitive events," said Chris Brozenick, vice president and general manager of mobile, WeatherBug. "The location-based technology and the automated process ensure that relevant notifications reach the right people in the right place at the right time."
Therefore, alerts like heat index, lightning detection warnings, wind gusts or standard severe weather alerts issued by the National Weather Service will be sent to the GPS enabled phones, manufactured by Motorola. When the staff is alerted they can easily move students to a safe area.
"The school faculty and staff have in-hand enhanced location-based mobile devices also equipped with the industry-leading Nextel Walkie-Talkie service as a back up cellular network feature," Craig Carroll, national director of education for Sprint. "Sprint is proud to know that this joint effort with Broward County Public Schools and WeatherBug has the potential to improve student safety through increased awareness and response to weather conditions for everything from athletic activities to band practices to field trips."