What The Education Connection does

The Education Connection (TEC), a brand of Insta-Info Inc., is a unified telephony-based communication platform purpose-built for K-12 school districts and universities. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Centerville, Ohio, TEC consolidates rapid mass-notification, automated absence and lunch-balance calls, anonymous tip lines, IP-based bell and paging systems, voicemail, and 911 emergency locator functionality into a single subscription product. The system is built on Aculab voice technology, deployed on Amazon Cloud infrastructure, and is intentionally hardware-agnostic, working with analog, digital, and VoIP telephone systems from multiple manufacturers.

TEC's product portfolio includes a cloud-based rapid notification system with a five-pass delivery algorithm and access to thousands of simultaneous telephone lines, an Automated Notifications suite that integrates with Student Information Systems, food service POS, and bus routing software, the 911 Alert Wireless Location-aware Panic Button Badge (launched 2024 to meet Alyssa's Law), the TEC Mobile Absence App and Mobile Web App (both launched 2025), and a separate non-taxpayer-funded infrastructure used for levy and bond campaign outreach. Documented compliance spans Kari's Law, Section 506 of Ray Baum's Act, Ohio Revised Code provisions on absence reporting and tip lines, and Alyssa's Law.

The business operates on annual subscription billing for the communication platform, wholesale hardware pricing on IP devices (speakers, clocks, panic buttons) offered exclusively to existing customers, and in-kind donation of levy/bond campaign calling services to existing district customers. Go-to-market is direct sales led via phone (1-800-800-3823) and a small field presence at Ohio-focused education technology conferences (OECN, NEOTech, OETC, Brainstorm), supplemented by an ITC partner network. The company is privately held under Insta-Info Inc., with no external institutional funding disclosed; leadership comprises Douglas Fritz (President) and Eric Piper (Vice President).

Name

The Education Connection

Legal name

Insta-Info Inc.

Website

https://tec911.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Education Connection (TEC), a brand of Insta-Info Inc. founded in 1991 and based in Centerville, Ohio, provides a unified telephony-based communication platform built on Aculab and Amazon Cloud for K-12 school districts and universities. It offers rapid notifications, automated absence and lunch-balance calls, bell systems, voicemail, and 911 panic-button hardware on an annual subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Communication Software

NAICS

Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Communications Services, Nec (4899)

akta.pro primary industry

Communication & Family Engagement Platforms (Messaging, Portals, Translation) (EDAJAMAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Communications, Parent/Guardian Engagement & Notification Systems (EDAJAHAM), Student Safety, Wellbeing & SEL Technology (Monitoring, Reporting) (EDAJAMAJ), Classroom Communication & Messaging Platforms (EDAFAGAA), Academic Integrity, Device Monitoring & Classroom Management Tools (EDAJAMAK)

Keywords

• School communication systems
• Mass notification services
• Automated absence calls
• Emergency notification platform
• IP bell paging systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Dayton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Communication System Subscription: Recurring subscription for cloud-based telephony communication services including rapid notifications, automated calls, voicemail, paging, and bell systems. TEC customers receive in-kind donation of levy/bond campaign calling services as part of their subscription.
2. IP Device Sales: TEC provides exclusive customer-only wholesale pricing on IP devices including speakers, clocks, alert systems, and panic buttons for campus or district-wide projects. Devices are hardware-agnostic and support multiple manufacturers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Education Connection (TEC) sells a cloud-based, telephony-driven unified communication platform built specifically for K-12 school districts and higher education institutions. Its product suite covers rapid mass notifications (voice, SMS, email), automated absence and lunch-balance calling, 911 emergency location, school safety tip lines, IP-based bells/clocks/PAs, desktop phone services with call recording and unified voicemail, levy/bond campaign dialing, and parent-teacher voicemail, with hardware resold for panic-button badges and IP endpoints.

Product overview

The Education Connection (TEC) is a unified telephony-based communication platform built specifically for K-12 and university education. The core TEC platform connects multiple integrated products: Rapid Notifications and Automated Notifications handle mass phone/text/email outreach; Safety and Security Notifications including the 911 Alert Panic Button Badge and Safe Anonymous Tipline address school safety; Desktop Phone Services provides 911 locator, call recording, paging, intercom, and unified voicemail features; Paging, Bells and Clocks manages IP-based bell schedules and PA systems. Supporting services include the 24/7 Announcement Line, Levy and Bond Campaign Support with a 90% success rate, and Unique Voice Mail (One-on-One) enabling private parent-teacher communication. Mobile offerings include the TEC Mobile Absence App and TEC Mobile Web App. All products integrate with Student Information Systems, food service software, and bus routing systems to automate contact list maintenance and notifications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Education Connection (TEC) Platform Unified telephony-based communication system designed for K-12 school districts and universities. Works with analog, digital, and VoIP telephone systems, supports thousands of simultaneous outbound calls, and bundles rapid notifications, automated calls, voicemail, paging, intercom, 911 locating, and bell control into a single subscription. Targeted at school administrators, teachers, nurses, transportation, food services, and support staff.
• TEC Safety and Security Notifications School safety communication suite including the 911 Alert Wireless Panic Button Badge meeting Alyssa's Law, the Safe Anonymous Tipline for bullying and safety threats with anonymous reporting and escalating notification workflows, and related emergency call recording. Designed for K-12 schools to comply with ORC 3313.666, Kari's Law, and Ray Baum's Act.
• Levy and Bond Issues Campaign Support Outbound calling service helping school districts run levy and bond campaigns, including voter registration calls, campaign messages, and get-out-the-vote calls. Donated as in-kind services to existing TEC customer levy committees, with a reported 90% passage rate among supported districts.
• TEC Mobile Absence App Mobile application enabling parents to securely report student absences from a smartphone or tablet. Targeted at K-12 parents served by TEC customer districts and integrated with the district's automated absence calling workflow.
• TEC Mobile Web App Web-based mobile application that allows TEC users to send text messages or phone calls remotely from a cell phone or tablet. Targeted at district administrators and teachers who need remote access to the TEC communication platform.
• TEC 911 Alert Wireless Panic Button Badge Credit-card-sized, location-aware wireless panic button badge compliant with Alyssa's Law. Features RFID for access control, position reporting, silent alerting, 300-foot range, movement detection, and IP67 dust/water resistance. Sold to K-12 districts as a campus-wide hardware solution.
• IP Devices (Speakers, Clocks, Panic Buttons) IP-based hardware devices including IP speakers, atomic-accuracy clocks, and IP panic buttons from multiple manufacturers. Sold to TEC customers at exclusive wholesale pricing for campus- or district-wide deployment, with hardware-agnostic support for mixed-vendor installations.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AculabcoreTechnology or Integration · 28 October 2016Aculab is an innovative, market-leading company providing voice technology building blocks on which TEC was built. David Samuel (Managing Director and CEO) and John Kozlowski (Senior Sales Manager) met with TEC developers and support staff to discuss current direction and successful new products. Aculab has over 35 years of experience and provides performance levels that TEC states are 'second to none.' TEC utilizes Aculab products for new products and services.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• LiveSchool: LiveSchool provides school-wide communication and PBX-style messaging for K-12. While smaller than TEC, it serves overlapping district buyers with modern notification features and could displace legacy dialers like TEC.
• Panorama Education: Panorama offers K-12 family engagement, SEL, and student wellbeing platforms. It intersects with TEC's student safety/wellbeing communication features and competes for the same family-engagement budget line.

Direct peers

• ParentSquare: ParentSquare is a unified school-to-home communication platform offering mass notifications, two-way messaging, and parent engagement tools. It directly competes with TEC for district-wide communication subscriptions and emphasizes mobile-first design.
• Singlewire Software: Singlewire's InformaCast provides mass notification across phones, speakers, desktops, and mobile devices for schools and campuses. It competes with TEC's rapid notification, paging, and IP bell/clock capabilities at a similar district buyer.
• ALERTUS Technologies: ALERTUS provides K-12 and campus-wide emergency notification systems including panic buttons, IP speakers, and desktop alerts. TEC's 911 Alert Panic Button and IP bell/speaker products directly overlap with ALERTUS's safety hardware/software suite.
• Remind: Remind is a teacher-to-parent messaging and notification platform widely used in K-12. It overlaps directly with TEC's rapid notification, two-way parent-teacher messaging, and announcement line use cases, and is generally more modern in UX.
• Raptor Technologies: Raptor Technologies sells visitor management, emergency management, and school safety communication tools (including panic button badges aligned with Alyssa's Law). It is a direct competitor to TEC's safety/security notification suite.

Others

• Aculab: Aculab is the underlying voice/telephony technology provider on which TEC is built. While not a direct competitor, Aculab enables multiple notification vendors including TEC, and the relationship is strategic for product capability.

Broad incumbents

• PowerSchool (SchoolMessenger): PowerSchool's SchoolMessenger is the dominant K-12 mass notification platform in North America, deeply integrated with the PowerSchool SIS. TEC competes for the same district communication budget, but PowerSchool offers a far broader SIS + communication + analytics suite.
• Blackboard Mass Notification (Anthology): Blackboard (now Anthology) provides mass notification and emergency communication tools for K-12 and higher education. It is a broad incumbent serving similar district buyers with overlapping emergency-notification and parent-outreach features.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Education Connection