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largebus
Advanced Member
USA
468 Posts |
 Posted - 07/17/2001 : 10:45:59 AM
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With cell phones or radios are you able to directly contact the schools or do you need to communicate with the office? Our drivers do not have cell phones, and the schools do not have radios, so it is up to the dispatch team to do the work. The drivers can't communicate directly to staff, security adminstrators or teachers who are on bus duty either, even if they have walkie talkies, they have to shout!
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2001 : 11:12:11 AM
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All our buses are two-way radio equipped but only connect with the transportation compounds . The Route Co-ordinators relay any needed info to school centers.
Joe
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BlueBird44
Top Member
USA
1639 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2001 : 11:19:00 AM
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Here everyone has cell phone provided by the district. If you are going to be late or something is wrong you call the office and notify them.
BlueBird44 |
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BusBoy
Top Member
USA
2042 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2001 : 1:13:40 PM
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Most Schools I visit, have 2 way radio's! I don't see many with cell phones!! I think with the way kids are you should aways have a good way to communicate with your transportation office!!
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AmTranIntFE01
Senior Member
USA
84 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2001 : 9:45:50 PM
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All of our buses have cell phones. All of our school administrators have walkie-talkies directly connected with their school offices and school resource officer. I'll use an example:
A girl missed her bus one day and she ran over to the principal and told him. He told the office, who then called the bus. This took less than two minutes. The bus turned around and went back. We were actually still just outside the school due to heavy traffic.
Will
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John Farr
Top Member
USA
642 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2001 : 08:56:27 AM
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We have two-way radios, plus Nextel phones. We use two of the four available modes in Nextel - cell phone and two-way radio. This gives drivers 3 different methods to communicate. We have almost eliminated conversations on the old base two-way, which was once a huge communications bottleneck.
We provide student home numbers on the Edulog route sheets, and school numbers on the route sheet heading. Drivers also have direct private access to each other, supervisors, dispatchers, administrators, campus security, etc.
As one experienced driver said, "this Nextel is *****in'"
The only downside is the cost of Nextel, whose bills can vary from about $20 to $45 per month per phone. Our base price is $18, but every time the phone is used it costs $.12/minute. If a driver talks to another driver, BOTH are charged.
Also, answering tne Nextel two-way is about the same as a regular two-way - pick it up, push the button, and talk. We feel it is ok to use them this way while driving. It is another story if the driver has to scroll for a name, or enter a number to call someone. Nextel offers unlimited two-way calling for $35/mo/phone. All dispatchers are on this program.
Edited by - john farr on 08/01/2001 08:58:26 AM |
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GGNA
Active Member
USA
16 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2001 : 4:54:26 PM
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We also have two-way radios on our busses. When there is a problem the bus driver calls dispatch and then my company is called. We are a management company. We call the schools directly and handle any problems.
Some drivers carry there own cell phones but it illegal in NY to talk on cell phones while driving and pulling over to talk on them is prohibited on most roadways.
The only people the carry Nextel's are the supervisors for our bus companies.
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BusBoss
Senior Member
105 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2001 : 4:40:54 PM
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Our buses are all equipped with mobile radios linked to the Transportation Dispatch office. The dispatcher is responsible for communication with school personnel.
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Busrepair
Senior Member
121 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2001 : 12:11:45 PM
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We use two way radios. This has worked out extremoly well except when an antennae gets broken off a bus. If your radio system is not working properly maybe it is time to upgrade or switch over. There are problems with cell phones and I feel the radios are best for our situation. It does depend greatly on how good of a system you have. We cover the entire county and the system we have works great.
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Stevebus42
Advanced Member
USA
363 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2001 : 09:34:38 AM
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We have two-way on our buses. Many of the schools have portables and some times you can raise the school directly. Most of the time we have to call transportation who calls them via a land line.
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largebus
Advanced Member
USA
468 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2001 : 12:38:35 PM
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Our buses can contact base 1 (the dispatch office/secretaries) base 2 (the garage), base 3 (the driver's room) and apparently there are bases 4-5 which are other offices at the TD. This is done on our open circut two way radio. We cannot talk to other district's vehicles, any other vehicle with a radio or to school staff members who have portables. It is limited to other buses and the bases.
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Contacting Schools
