School Bell System Appraisal

For as long as schools have existed, there has been a requirement for a easy yet effective way to inform students and educators of class-change times, start of lessons and end of lessons. Over the ages, many methods have been employed for this function. Early methods included the hand ringing of bells - some of which are still used at present. Gradually technology has seen the beginning of more trustworthy and increasingly accurate systems, to the position where today’s schools can have fully programmed timetables that automatically make modifications for exams, holidays and one-off events such as parent-teacher interviews.

Why did they change?

The old hand-held bells were very effectual in making teachers and students in small-to-mid sized schools aware of lesson times but like nearly all fully-manual systems, they did have a few drawbacks:
1. Inaccuracy. Ringing times were only as correct as the timepiece used to determine lesson times. Any clock that had not recently been wound might trigger disruptions to the routine, which would have a flow-on outcome for classes.
2. Human error and reliability. A manual system forever contains the uneven human aspect. If the bell ringer was affected by illness or had some other personal crisis, someone else would be required to take on the bell ringing tasks, resulting in more disruptions.

Of course, one added hitch of the manual bell ringing practice is the issue of hearing loss caused by close proximity to the noisy bells. This danger was either unknown in the past or at least it was by no means considered a significant enough issue to deserve changes to the practice. These days it is inconceivable that educational facilities place a student’s hearing or any other of their senses at risk of permanent injury.

In recent decades, various other bell systems have been tested, some proving more effective than others. Some schools have tried using sirens and klaxons to advise students and teachers of class times, but these were commonly found to be stressful, and had an undesirable effect on the focus ability of students.

Various attempts at automation included the integration of 24-hour timers, which needed resetting at weekends and the start of new school weeks.

7-day timers were an enhancement but still required frequent awareness at holiday times and making changes for daylight saving changeovers and long weekends proved to be difficult and cumbersome.

Public-Address (PA) systems have been used in numerous schools as a method of integrating the school bell as well as an intercom, but these had various flaws regarding volumes, loudspeaker malfunction and the amount of cabling necessary. Time and again schools have been let down by these types of systems and they have gradually been phased out, with schools opting for separate bell ringing and intercom setups.

More recently, standalone pc-based programs have been implemented in numerous schools, with the pledge of set-and-forget capabilities, but usually these too have been destined to failure. PC reliability and a lack of professional computing skills among school administration staff have meant that these setups have regularly grow to be riddled with issues and finally the schools have ditched them and returned to more primitive methods.

So we come to the present day, and the launch of a new generation of school bell systems. These systems combine cutting edge dedicated hardware with internet based atomic clock timing, giving complete reliability and extreme accuracy. The human variable has been taken out of the equation, making new systems simple to install and operate. Schedules can now be programmed in up to a year in advance, with modifications for holidays and parent-teacher interviews easily integrated. Modern school bell systems are in fact set-and-forget, low maintenance and create outstanding return on investment when compared to outdated systems.

Many schools and certainly countrywide education departments are making the switch to modern school bell systems to modernize and synchronize all their schools’ activities and education, leaving others further behind and giving them the opportunity to propose improved facilities to potential students and teachers alike.

By: Keith Crow

Keith Crow is an specialist on the School Bell System topic and has greater than three decades of Computer IT knowledge to back it up. For more information, here is a more detailed School Bell Systems Report.

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