Murrieta Valley USD Uses Extron GlobalViewer Campus Communication Suite for Health Reminders & More

The benefits of GVCCS have been clear to us since the first deployment. The dynamism that the system offers for content and delivery, coupled with the ability it gives each school to tailor these features to individual site needs, is a game changer.

Murrieta Valley Unified School District - MVUSD is located in Murrieta, California on the southwestern edge of Riverside County. The district’s award-winning academic program educates 23,400 students from transitional kindergarten through high school at 20 campuses.

It Started in 2014 ….

As Extron chronicled in a previous application story, beginning in 2014, MVUSD executed a major 18-month renovation of campuses across the district. This project included installation of AV systems built around Extron’s WallVault Digital System in 1,100 classrooms, multipurpose rooms, libraries, and meeting rooms. The systems include a projector, a pull-down screen, a document camera, and an Extron WallVault Classroom AV switching and control system. These systems have become indispensable instructional tools for teachers in the months and years since they were commissioned.

During the renovation project, the district began evaluating Extron’s GlobalViewer Campus Communications Suite – GVCCS – with intentions to modernize campus public address, bell, and intercom systems. GVCCS is a complete solution for unifying all campus audio systems under an easy-to-use interface using the existing network.

GlobalViewer Campus Communication Suite Evaluation

Avaxat Elementary and Alta Murrieta Elementary were the evaluation sites, where GVCCS replaced aging 25-year old systems. During the evaluation period, feedback came from administrators, teachers, and classroom staff. Campus administrators appreciated the ability to control their own schedule and create their own audio content. Teachers cited how easy it is to adjust the PA volume and alter the bell tones. IT personnel use the GlobalViewer® Enterprise AV resource management component of GVCCS to track projector lamp useage, proactively schedule replacements, and gather data on reliability.

GVCCS Roll Out District-Wide

With successful completion of the evaluation period, MVUSD administrators formulated a plan to roll out GVCCS district wide. They viewed standardization on GVCCS as the best path to reduce total cost of ownership while providing a better user experience. In addition to implementing bell and public address capabilities, GVCCS intercoms are slated to replace all existing intercoms. Previously installed WallVault AV systems at all middle schools and high schools will receive the Audio Decoding LinkLicense option, equipping them to broadcast bells and public address announcements from GVCCS directly into classrooms

GVCCS Versatility Sparks Creative Uses

At Murrieta Valley High School, GVCCS is tied into a VoIP-based alerting system. The school administration got students involved in choosing the bell tones for the various alerts, allowing them to vote. They chose clips of popular songs. The school’s decision to engage students in this way was only possible because of the versatility of GVCCS.

Another creative use for GVCCS was an audio self guided tour on back-to-school night. Audio clips containing tour directions were programmed as bell tones that were localized to various zones around the campus. These were broadcast at intervals to lead visitors around campus.

Health and Safety Announcements a Key Facet of Resuming In-Classroom Learning After Pandemic-Related Closings

Like most school districts, MVUSD had to pivot to remote learning in March 2020, in response to state-mandated school closure orders prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In preparation to safely reopen campuses when in-person classes are allowed to resume, district decision makers regularly check health authority guidance and noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control - CDC - had added the following line to the school reopening guidelines: “Broadcast regular announcements on reducing the spread of COVID-19 on PA systems.” At that point, they realized rollout of GVCCS needed to be fast tracked to have the PA announcement functionality at all campuses. By the end of Summer break, all campuses were equipped with GVCCS systems that provided the capability to broadcast a health and safety public address announcement. The announcement repeats at scheduled intervals and can be broadcast on-demand by clicking a dedicated button on the GVCCS Quick Links menu bar. To optimize effectiveness, the announcement message is recorded in two versions, one for elementary students, and another for secondary students.

GVCCS Viewed as a Game Changer

All 20 MVUSD campuses are now equipped with GVCCS. Also included are the District Administration Offices and the Murrieta Summit building, which houses the adult transition program.

Speaking a few weeks before the opening of the 2020-2021 school year, Jonathan Pratt, Senior Systems Engineer for MVUSD, observed that GVCCS is yielding multiple advantages: “From an Operations standpoint, we are convinced that GVCCS is the way to go. But the technical case for GVCCS actually takes a back seat to its value added. The benefits of GVCCS have been clear to us since the first deployment. The dynamism that the system offers for content and delivery, coupled with the ability it gives each school to tailor these features to individual site needs, is a game changer. Our school site administrators are excited to have this new tool as they embark on what is assured to be one of the most challenging school years ever.”