A Holistic Approach to Educational Needs

As a creative writer who has worked in marketing and advertising for more than 20 years, I like to keep both of my feet firmly planted in pop culture. I feel like it keeps me relevant and in touch with the people I’m connecting with through written words. However, I use movie references to make my point way too much. Like this one: In the movie The Three Amigos, Lucky Day (played by Steve Martin) is trying to get the attention of the other two Amigos while breaking into their movie studio to retrieve their black and white uniforms before heading off on an adventure. While Dusty and Ned are crouched below, Lucky stands tall on the studio wall and yells, “ca-caw, ca-caw, lookuphere, look-up-here!”

This whole premise makes for a funny scene in a classic 80s movie, but it’s not funny when businesses try to stand and yell on the proverbial wall to garner attention from their clients, customers, or constituents. When it’s time to engage with those you serve it needs to be personally impactful, while delivering an intrinsic value that adds something meaningful to their lives. The messaging–and the way to deliver it–needs to be thoughtful, strategic, and cost effective. Bitwise Industries used our Contact-Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) solution to do just this for one of our clients.

By the Numbers

The State of New Mexico is known for its rich, diverse culture that includes a landscape as unique and varied as its celebrated history that is punctuated by legends and lore of the wild west and romanticized stories of the Rio Grande. Historically, New Mexico is known for its ancient indeginous heritage, as well as its highly diverse economy centered on energy, agriculture, and tourism. New Mexico’s  2.1 million residents include Latino or hispanic (56%), non-hispanic white (27%), Native American (11.5%) and less than two percent Asian and Black. 

Fifty is the number the State of New Mexico is working to improve. That’s because this number is their current rank based on how well they are educating students when compared to other states across the country and the ability to achieve better academic standards and test scores. Recognizing the gap, the State of New Mexico began to push for digital equity for all of their K-12 students where an estimated 21% of students in public schools–roughly 66,200 students–lived in households without internet subscriptions. 

A comprehensive plan was developed to deliver broadband connectivity and essential hardware and software tools to improve education outcomes for the diverse communities across New Mexico. To support this critical initiative, Bitwise Industries proposed an omnichannel Tech Support Ambassador Center for students, parents, families, and educators to ensure everyone can access and leverage the broadband connectivity and supporting hardware and software tools for student success. 

“The pandemic has underscored the urgent need for reliable internet access for every single student and family and business. We must and we will provide every New Mexican with quality and affordable broadband service, and these measures advance the subject.” – New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham

An Agent for Change

New Mexico’s diverse communities required sophisticated communication and engagement tools to address a range of potential language barriers and limited knowledge of technology. However, to be successful, Bitwise Industries created a customized approach that proactively addressed any barriers to the initiative in an easy-to-understand method where Ambassadors personally walked people through each step of the setup process. 

Using Bitwise Industries’ CCaaS, ten bilingual Ambassadors–who were fluent in English, Spanish, Navajo, and Zuni–were trained to use the omnichannel in a way that reflected empathy, expertise, and efficiency toward those who were engaged with the program. The Ambassadors were able to guide parents and students through broadband connectivity support of the ISP hardware and setup; integration of the learning management systems that included Canvas and Blackboard; installation of curriculum-based learning apps MS Office and the Google Suite; as well as the hardware support to set up Google Chromebooks, iPads, and desktop computers. 

One dedicated project manager was made available to supervise the Ambassador team and provide leadership for all operational elements. Additionally, the project manager facilitated the partnership with the State and District IT teams to ensure the initiative’s effective integration and community adoption.

It’s Early, but Promising

Even though this initiative to provide better access to broadband services and technology is in its early planning phase, the New Mexico Department of Information Technology has identified 54,220 statewide recipients (which includes all eligible households and not just students) who are eligible to receive assistance through this program. They will continue to identify gaps, clarify issues, and provide “action” items toward solutions to improve the digital equity of New Mexico.

Let Us Help

Technology Consulting is the Software Development-as-a-Service division of Bitwise 

Industries that specializes in custom software development, Contact Center-as-a-Service, managed services, and Salesforce implementation. Our technology professionals have deep experience applying cutting-edge technology solutions to help business entities of all sizes navigate the technology landscape to find solutions to optimize their operations. 

If you’re interested in uncovering the tech possibilities available to your organization, click this link to schedule some time with one of our experts. 

This post was written by Jeff Rickels, Technical Writer for Bitwise Industries. When he’s not writing, he’s working on strategies to procure the optimum frequency and spacing of squares to purchase in anticipation of any Super Bowl LVI pools.

If you’re interested in uncovering the tech possibilities available to your organization or want to find more ways to increase your ROI with technology, click this link to schedule some time with one of our experts.