Blackboard Community Engagement Solution
The Blackboard Community Engagement Solution (CES) is a suite of products covering your website, mass notification, mobile, and social needs.
- Web Community Manager (WCM) makes creating and updating a school website a snap - no technical skills required! WCM is a completely integrated website solution for teachers, school personnel, and administrators. It offers district, school building, and teacher pages, to create a dynamic and robust website.
- Mobile Communications App (MCA) supports your district’s mobile engagement strategy, helping you connect with your K-12 community anytime, anywhere.
- Mass Notification (MN) software is a reliable and powerful communication tool that provides easy-to-use, streamlined, single-screen message sending. With smartphone apps, upgraded email, SMS and text-to-speech messaging, as well as Facebook, Twitter and RSS integration, it is easier than ever to remain in communication with families, students and staff.
- Ally for WCM helps you modify, monitor, and report on your website content to make it more accessible for your entire community. Ally provides real-time feedback on content accessibility, automatically checking web pages and content against WCAG standards.
- Vendor hosts all software
- The WNYRIC provides application support, training, and coordination services
- Unused training hours expire at the end of the school year (June 30th)
- Data recovery and restore scenarios may incur additional charges by the WNYRIC, the vendor, or both
- District LAN, WNYRIC connectivity, Internet access
- Internet domain (i.e.: district.org)
- Encryption certificates
- Appoint district staff to plan implementation
- Participate in software demonstration and implementation planning meetings
- Name a district primary and secondary contact for service
- Promptly notify Website & Notification Solutions team of a change in contact
- Identify district Web Master (overall site administrator), subsite directors, and turnkey district trainer staff
- Identify software administrators of licensed software
- Renew Internet domains
- Renew encryption certificates
- Support district staff with content editing
- Support the public and district end users with software usage
- Populate site with content, provide and schedule messages, and provide data for licensed software of bundle
- Monitor software and content
- Comply with all required regulations and laws in use of the software, including copyright and accessibility
- Request support and report issues to WNYRIC Service Desk for prompt service
- Provide access to software's administration to Website support staff in order to support district
- Attend any announced user group meetings
- Communicate relevant website and software information within the district and to the public
- Schedule and facilitate planning as district requests
- Detail project narrative, costs for licensing, and training needs
- Assist district with product implementations
- Provide training as detailed in subservices
- Unlimited access for all users to an extensive library of training materials
- Provide support by phone, email, and screen sharing
- Host user group meeting
- Communicate enhancements to district contact
- Troubleshoot issues
- Work with vendor support as needed
- Send pertinent communication on topics related to websites, mass notifications, mobile apps, and social media
The WNYRIC utilizes cost effective best practices determined by research that allows our experienced and trained technical staff to perform robust testing and support of the WNYRIC network in the areas of security, infrastructure, energy management, virtualization strategies, disaster recovery and business continuity. Therefore, we are able to be a district advocate for vendor contract issues and aggressively negotiate contract pricing and performance terms.
Staff follows best practices in order to provide necessary security as it relates to the most recent student, teacher and principal data security and privacy regulations.
Service Desk can be reached Monday–Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by calling (716) 821-7171 or toll-free at 1-800-872-0780, by email at servicedesk@e1b.org, or via live chat. A representative will be available from 4:30 p.m. through 11:00 p.m. to assist you with calls regarding emergency situations. During all other hours and holidays, a caller will receive important information regarding coverage.