IC Bus and Kajeet, a provider of IoT connectivity, software and hardware solutions, have expanded their partnership to make the Kajeet SmartBus hardware and service bundle available to all new and existing buses from IC Bus.
The expanded partnership delivers school buses to come standard with a comprehensive Wi-Fi solution including hardware, software, data and support. As part of the new agreement, the Kajeet SmartBus solution and one year of free service will also now come standard on all electric buses from IC Bus.
As schools across the U.S. prepare to reopen, the companies say the partnership will empower school systems to build a more resilient educational infrastructure by ensuring equitable access to safe and reliable internet connectivity and transportation.
In addition to promoting student success, Wi-Fi-enabled buses have also been found to reduce the number of incidents occurring on the bus, the companies say. Raytown School District in Missouri was an early adopter of including Wi-Fi on their school buses and was part of the SmartBus pilot program. The companies say after having Wi-Fi connectivity available on their school buses, their number of disciplinary referrals dropped 45%.
Kajeet was built for education and with the safety of students in mind. Its SmartBus solution is provisioned on its CIPA-compliant IoT management platform, Sentinel. Beyond Wi-Fi, the companies say Sentinel provides administrators with complete visibility into data usage on all connected devices as well as educator-specified mobile policy controls, content blocking and website filtering. The platform is compatible with all major U.S. carriers.
