Boston-based communications and IT firm GoTo introduces a transformative service for the education sector. Their new platform, GoTo Connect for Education, aims to streamline the scattered communications systems in schools and universities. By integrating phones, paging, messaging systems, and emergency alerts into one cloud-based platform, GoTo seeks to offer a more organized and secure infrastructure.
Educational institutions often struggle with outdated, fragmented communication systems. These create a tangled IT landscape, challenging to manage. Damon Covey, General Manager of UCC at GoTo, emphasized that the new platform gives educators and administrators a single dashboard to manage district-wide communications. This facilitates ease of management, a crucial factor for busy IT teams.
Complex IT environments are typical in schools and universities. Separate networks cater to internal calls, public announcements, and emergency notifications, often sourced from various vendors over decades. Every system upgrade or new requirement adds another layer, complicating the infrastructure.
Steve Maycock, Head of Infrastructure and Security at Leigh Academies Trust, praises the platform, stating, “GoTo Connect’s call-handling has the strongest administrative front-end of any system, allowing staff to easily set up and adapt.”
The platform’s core idea is simple: merge all communication means into one application. This includes calls, messaging, virtual classrooms, faxing, and safety alerts. Administrative tools allow IT teams to manage users, licenses, and settings from a central portal.
A significant challenge is balancing modernization with existing systems. Replacing functional yet outdated technology is often financially unfeasible for schools. GoTo ensures compatibility with analog infrastructures, making it appealing for institutions seeking gradual upgrades.
Beyond efficiency, the platform offers enhanced campus safety features, an increasing priority for educational institutions. It supports E911 services and integrates with third-party alert platforms like STOPit Notify and Catapult EMS. These features allow real-time emergency notifications throughout campuses. Unlike standalone tools, GoTo combines these features with regular communication systems, reducing the number of systems needing security and maintenance.
By providing a broad range of services under a single vendor, GoTo aims to simplify system management for IT administrators. Whether this will attract schools depends on the platform’s compatibility with existing systems and smooth migration processes.
The market for educational communication systems is competitive, with players like Microsoft, Zoom, Cisco, and RingCentral already present. While these focus on collaboration, GoTo targets unifying a broader communication framework, including telephony and emergency systems. Yet, the sector remains conservative and fragmented, often limited by district-level decisions and funding cycles.
Centralized management platforms like GoTo Connect for Education promise operational efficiency and crisis resilience. These are increasingly valued by regulators and parents, influencing institutional priorities.
Currently, the education-focused platform is available in the US, UK, and Ireland. Its success will depend on execution—ensuring simplicity without imposing disruptive migrations or additional costs for schools. For IT leaders, the launch signifies the growing strategic importance of communication infrastructure.
