On January 31, 2008, Blackboard completed its acquisition of The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI) and its Connect-ED® mass messaging and notification technology. NTI provides solutions for educational and government organizations via voice, email, SMS and other text-receiving devices.

"Time-sensitive mass notification systems are a top priority for global academic institutions," says Michael Chasen, Blackboard's President and Chief Executive Officer. "NTI is the leading provider of these systems to educational institutions and government agencies and the addition of their solutions is an excellent next step in the growth of Blackboard's product portfolio."

This acquisition of Connect-ED enables Blackboard to better help institutions address several key challenges and trends taking place within the education community, namely:

1. As online learning continues to grow and more institutions utilize the internet to connect with traditional and virtual students, it is becoming increasingly important to have the capability to deliver mass communications with large populations of users across an array of technical devices;

2. It has become imperative that academic institutions have the ability to quickly and effectively communicate with their entire campus constituency in the wake of a range of school and campus tragedies, severe weather and other safety concerns; and

3. Institutions are focusing on mobile-centric strategies and looking to tightly integrate their learning environments with cell phones and PDAs.

NTI’s Connect-ED service provides comprehensive communication services designed specifically for academic institutions. This mass notification system is designed to allow users to quickly and easily record and send time-sensitive notifications to thousands of people in minutes using just a computer or telephone.

The Connect-ED service operates as a fully hosted, fully managed Application Service Provider (ASP) / Software as a Service (SaaS); users are able to deploy a complete messaging and notification system without investing in, or maintaining, hardware, software or additional phone lines. Messages can be sent to recipients' landlines, cell phones, PDAs/text- based devices, SMS, e-mail accounts and TTY/TDD devices for the hearing impaired.

Contact your Blackboard sales representative to learn more about Connect-ED.