Focus has developed an integration with InformaCast, allowing administrators and teachers to either request assistance or initiate a lockdown within the Focus mobile app.
All inputs for the system preferences are provided by InformaCast.
1. In the Setup menu, click System Preferences.
2. In the General tab of School Preferences, enter the following system preferences, as provided by InformaCast:
InformaCast API Key
InformaCast Request Assistance Message Template
InformaCast Request Assistance Distribution Lists
InformaCast Request Assistance Device Groups
InformaCast Request Assistance Users
InformaCast Lockdown Message Template
InformaCast Lockdown Distribution Lists
InformaCast Lockdown Device Groups
InformaCast Lockdown Users
3. Click Save.
The Emergency Services Health Check scheduled job is run to confirm that the connection to InformaCast is set up correctly. The job will tell you if the lockdown and request assistance options should work for each school or if there are issues. It is recommended to run this job nightly.
1. In the Setup menu, click Scheduled Jobs.
2. In the pull-down at the top-right of the screen, select Emergency Services Health Check and click Create Job.
3. Set the options for the job and click Save. Please see Scheduled Jobs for more information on setting up scheduled jobs.
Profile permissions for teachers and administrators control the ability to request emergency assistance or initiate a lockdown within the Focus mobile app.
1. In the Users menu, click Profiles.
2. In the Permission Type pull-down, select Menu.
3. In the Role pull-down, select Admin or Teacher.
4. In the Profiles pull-down, select the appropriate profile(s).
5. Click Submit.
6. Under the Portal permissions, select Allow user to Request Emergency Assistance to display the Request Assistance option in the mobile app.
7. Select Allow user to Request Emergency Lockdown to display the Initiate Lockdown option in the mobile app.
8. Click Save.
The "Request Emergency Assistance" button displays in the menu of the Focus mobile app for administrators and teachers who have one or both of the profile permissions "Allow user to Request Emergency Assistance" and "Allow user to Request Emergency Lockdown." When the button is tapped, the options to "Request Assistance" or "Initiate Lockdown" display, depending on permissions. If the user has an admin or teacher profile with permissions, as well as a parent profile, the "Request Emergency Assistance" button displays only when the admin/teacher profile is selected. If the user has access to multiple schools, after tapping "Request Emergency Assistance" and selecting either the "Request Assistance" or "Initiate Lockdown" options, a school pull-down displays with the user's schools to select from.
1. After logging in to the mobile app, tap the Menu icon at the top-left of the screen.
2. Tap Request Emergency Assistance at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Request Assistance or Initiate Lockdown.
4. If you have access to multiple schools, select the appropriate school from the pull-down.
5. Tap Confirm.
A pop-up window displays, indicating the request is sending.
6. Tap OK in the confirmation message.
Notifications are sent out to the appropriate users and devices, and may be communicated via email, SMS, phone calls, desktop notifications, speakers, etc. according to your district's setup with InformaCast. After initiating a lockdown, a phone call to 911 will start automatically from your mobile phone.
If the device loses network connectivity when attempting to request assistance or initiate a lockdown, Focus will send the signal repeatedly until the device reconnects to the network. A message will display if the request cannot be sent.