Frequently Asked Questions

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Lightspeed Systems® Products

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  • Is Lightspeed Filter compatible on all operating systems (OS)?

    Lightspeed Filter uses proprietary SmartAgents compatible on Chrome, Windows, Mac (compatible with the latest Mac OS update: Big Sur), and iOS operating systems.

  • Can I use Lightspeed Filter to block and allow YouTube videos?

    Lightspeed SmartPlay uses advanced machine-learning AI – with a database that grows daily – for advanced filtering capabilities on YouTube. No matter where students are located, SmartPlay allows and blocks embedded video content around the internet to ensure only appropriate content is being shown. SmartPlay is available to Lightspeed Filter users, and offers detailed reporting and control options for educators.

  • Can parents have access to their students’ online activity reports with Lightspeed Filter?

    Lightspeed Parent Portal includes Weekly Parent Report emails to improve communication between the school and the students’ home. Lightspeed Filter customers can invite parents to view their child’s internet activity, straight to their inbox. Lightspeed Parent Portal empowers a students’ family to get involved in their education without extra work for IT teams.

  • What types of reports are available in Lightspeed Filter?

    Lightspeed Filter reports work across all operating systems, including iOS. Our network agent is able to capture data for IoT, BYOD devices. Reports available include an Internet Overview, Web Activity Log, and custom User Reporting.

    • Internet overview: How is your internet bandwidth being used? Key websites that you want to have monitored can be added to this report for custom tracking.
    • Web activity log: Raw data for a specific set of criteria. These reports are useful for IT teams to look at device-level information by user, serial number, location, traffic from a particular site, and more.
    • User reporting: The most-used report among our customers, this report allows access to granular data on a single, specific user’s online activity in a shareable, easy-to-read format.

  • Can I assign roles and permissions to allow principals and school counselors to view student online data?

    District admins can be added to receive alert notifications through the Alert product interface. This will be configured during implementation and can be updated at any time. 

  • Can I filter Google and YouTube traffic on iOS devices?

    With our cloud integrations and upgraded agents, online activity on iOS/iPads is captured and filtered, including education apps, Google searches, and web browsing.

  • I currently use Safety Check. Do I need to update my Chrome extension to use Alert?

    Please reach out to your Account Manager and request a license for Lightspeed Alert. Once you have an Alert license, Alert will appear under "Reports in Filter (Relay)" instead of Safety Check. You can then install the brand new Lightspeed Alert extension for Chrome that brings updated AI logic to more accurately capture completed words on the device, reducing traffic off devices, and noisy incidents. In addition, you will have access to Alert Agent 2.0 for Windows; iOS search terms; and Google docs, sheets, slides, and cloud integration!

  • Will human review catch incidents that Alert misses?

    No, the safety specialist review queue is populated by the same Alert AI. However, Lightspeed Safety Specialists will review every incident rather than every case.

  • Do the parents get the same alert notifications? 

    No, Alert notifications are only relayed to school administration officials. Parent notifications may be integrated at a later date.

  • Can Alert be purchased without Lightspeed Filter?

    Yes! While Lightspeed solutions integrate seamlessly together, Lightspeed Alert can be deployed with other web filtering systems in place.

  • What does the new Alert extension for Chrome bring? Does it change how Alert works?

    The Alert extension for Chrome is a brand new extension that brings updated AI logic to more accurately capture completed words on the device, reducing traffic off devices and noisy incidents. 

  • Does Lightspeed Alert work on iOS? What is covered?

    Lightspeed Alert monitors and alerts on Google search terms from iOS devices.

    • iOS devices must first be proxying through a Network Agent (Relay Rocket).
    • Network Agent (Relay Rocket) must be version 1.4+.
    • Additionally, you will be able to connect Alert to Google and Microsoft cloud services for coverage of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel PowerPoint, and Outlook on your iOS devices.

  • I am trying to set up human review. Why do I see a red X icon with the message “No incidents/case detected”?

    In order to enable human review for Lightspeed Alert, at least 1 Alert case must have been generated in the past 6 months for your organization. This is to ensure that the system is functioning optimally so you can rest assured that Alerts from your organization will be reviewed by a Lightspeed Systems Safety Specialist. To set up Alert and to trigger a test case, please see Getting Started with Lightspeed Alert™.

  • How do I disable human review?

    To disable human review, navigate in Lightspeed Filter to Settings: Alert, then Click here under Software Configuration. Next, under Configurations, choose Human Review. From here, click “Disable” and then “Confirm” to confirm you would like to disable human review for Lightspeed Alert. Should you choose to disable human review, you can enable it again at any time by navigating back to “Human Review” in the Configurations page and following the prompts. 

  • When I navigate to the Lightspeed Alert Configurations page, why do I not see human review?

    To have human review added to your Lightspeed Alert account please contact your Lightspeed Systems Account Manager.

  • What happens when human review is on? Do I still receive the alert emails?

    As long as you haven’t set email notifications to hold outside of scheduled hours, you will still receive automatic Alert emails (based on your Admin Role). With human review, you will also receive a phone call and personalized summary email on any imminent threat and a summary email on any high alert.

  • Who are Lightspeed Safety Specialists?

    Lightspeed Safety Specialists are a global team of people with a passion for student safety and experience that includes education, law enforcement, student safety, and mental health. Each safety specialist is a full-time Lightspeed employee and receives comprehensive training in conjunction with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, mental health professionals & school safety experts.

  • Will the Safety Specialists call for every alert?

    No. The call tree escalation process is for imminent threats. Lightspeed Student Safety Specialists will call contact 1, then 2, all the way through to the end of the list, in which law enforcement will be contacted. 

  • What if there’s a threat that isn’t imminent?

    In addition to the auto email sent by Alert, the safety specialist will also send a summary email on any threats identified as high risk but not imminent.

  • What defines a threat as "imminent"?

    Imminent threats are about to happen and require immediate intervention. 

    • Risk levels are rated low, medium, high, or imminent threat. 

     

    The qualifiers for an imminent threat include 

    • Access to weapon 
    • Plan in place 
    • Specific details 
    • Goodbye letters/content 

     

  • What will the communication path look like if faculty/staff are not available?

    If we are unable to reach the school Emergency Contacts and a threat is imminent, we will contact local law enforcement.

  • Can I edit and/or delete my Escalation list contacts?

    Yes. To make changes to Escalation list contacts, navigate in Lightspeed Filter to Settings: Alert, then Click here under Software Configuration. Next, under Configurations, choose Human Review. From here you can add, delete, edit Escalation contacts. Once you have completed your revisions, press Update to save your changes.

  • Will human review continue to monitor alerts if I hold email notifications?

    Yes! If Alert is operating but auto emails are on hold, Lightspeed Safety Specialists will still receive and review all alerts.

  • Will human review continue to monitor alerts outside of my Alert schedule hours?

    No, Alert must be operating (monitoring and alerting on activity) for the human review service to see the cases and perform their work. 

Lightspeed Digital Insight™

  • Can Lightspeed Digital Insight help find unapproved apps on our network?

    Yes! This is a common request from schools and districts around the world, to find actionable data of apps students or teachers may be using on the network that are unapproved.

     

  • Does Lightspeed Digital Insight work on iPads?

    Yes! Application spend on iPads can generally be more expensive than most devices, and Lightspeed Digital Insight can give you visibility into what apps are being utilized the least, so you can easily determine cost-reducing opportunities.

     

  • Can Lightspeed Digital Insight tell me which apps are being most used by students both at school and home?

    The agent is able to give detailed data on the student’s online activity anywhere, whether it’s on or off school campus.

  • Can I allow principals to access student data, but not teachers or other staff?

    Yes. All reports can be shared with relevant stakeholders.

  • Does Lightspeed MDM work with all operating systems (OS)?

    Yes, Lightspeed MDM is a multi-OS management system (compatible with iOS, Mac, and Windows) with remote configuration capabilities. This does not function properly on Chrome OS, due to our partnership with Google, as Google only allows their own Google MDM solution on Chrome devices.

  • Does Lightspeed MDM offer device location tracking?

    Yes, Lightspeed MDM gives IT teams a cloud-based solution to track devices, in real time, for fast recovery of lost or stolen equipment. Lightspeed Systems is an Apple Certified Partner; MDM provides geo-tracking capabilities for Mac OS and iOS environments.

Lightspeed Classroom Management™​

  • Can you view student screens with Classroom Management?

    Yes! Lightspeed Classroom Management gives admins access to view all of the classroom’s screens at once, or zoom in on a selected individual student. Unlike other classroom management solutions on the market, Lightspeed Classroom Management gives visibility to the whole desktop screen – not just the browser window – on Windows and Mac devices.

  • Does Classroom Management work on iOS?

    There are no classroom management solutions on the market that Apple allows to be used on iOS. However, Lightspeed Classroom Management is compatible with Chrome, Mac, and Windows operating systems.

  • Does Classroom Management work on devices at home (remotely)?

    Classroom Management is cloud-based, so it can work on devices at any time, anywhere. Since we understand the importance of data privacy, admins can set Classroom Management to be used on devices at home or only on campus, as well as allowed hours.

  • Does Classroom Management integrate with Zoom?

    Yes, Lightspeed Classroom Management integrates with Zoom to allow teachers to see both student faces and their screens.

  • Does Classroom Management integrate with Microsoft Teams?

    Yes, Lightspeed Classroom Management integrates with Microsoft Teams and Chat for simpler virtual classroom workflows.

  • Do you offer teacher training for Lightspeed Classroom Management?

    Absolutely! We offer a training course for teachers, along with videos to help learn how to navigate Lightspeed Classroom Management.

  • Is it required to have licenses for staff and teachers' devices to use Classroom Management?

    It is not required to have a license for staff and teachers' devices. Teachers can take advantage of all our Lightspeed Classroom Management features without a license.

  • While our students use Chromebooks and all our teachers use Macbooks, does Classroom Management run on Apple computers, including those with the new M1 chips?

    Yes, MacBooks with the M1 chip are supported.

  • How are devices identified and with which associated student?

    Devices are identified by a serial number and the logged-in user ID.

  • I would like to purchase now, but can I have the service start at a later date?

    Yes, it is possible to purchase your order and define when you'd like the service to begin. In your Purchase Order, please specify the desired start date.

Lightspeed Systems FAQs

  • Will I get help with implementation?

    We offer implementation classes hosted by Sales Engineers, as well as self-guided instructions, and a designated team for any specific questions. Additionally, chat in the Customer Portal is available with implementation resources.

  • How do I contact support?

    The Lightspeed support team can be contacted by filling out the support form on our Contact Us page, as well as by phone and live chat. The Lightspeed Customer Portal knowledge base and live chat are available 24/7.

  • I'm a principal at a school. Can I purchase your programs just for my school, or does this have to be a district-wide implementation?

    In order to deploy our products, we will need to involve and get approval from the district's IT team.

  • Will Lightspeed Systems solutions sync with my districts Student Information System (SIS)?

    Yes, Lightspeed solutions integrate with all the well-known student information systems. With our API, we can sync with any SIS in place at your district.

  • Can Lightspeed Systems filter IoT and BYOD devices?

    Yes! Lightspeed offers solutions to cover Internet of Things (IoT) and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) devices on your network.

  • How does deployment of the Smart Agent differ across operating systems (OS)?

    For Chromebooks, a push extension will be used to deploy the Smart Agent. On iPads, an application will be installed to deploy.

  • How does Lightspeed ensure the content filtering system doesn't go down?

    Our filtering stores data locally as a backup, so if services go down, devices still get filtered properly. However, service interruptions are rare; our service-level agreement (SLA) states our services are available at least 99.5% of the time. While our servers are continuously monitored, are average monthly uptime in 2020 was 99.9%.

  • How can I keep students from uninstalling the Smart Agent?

    Students are not able to uninstall agents deployed on devices.

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Reimagine the inspired and interactive classroom for remote, hybrid, and in-person learning. Lightspeed Classroom Management™ gives teachers real-time visibility and control of their students’ digital workspaces and online activity.

  • Ensure all students interact with only the right online curriculum — precisely when they’re supposed to use it.
  • Push out vetted curriculum links to all students at the same time.
  • Block inappropriate or distracting web sites and apps.

Ensure scalable & efficient learning device management. The Lightspeed Mobile Device Management™ system ensures safe and secure management of student learning resources with real-time visibility and reporting essential for effective distance learning.

  • A centralized, cloud-based solution for infinitely scalable device, application, and policy controls
  • Self-Service App Library, where teachers and students
    can access and install approved curriculum and learning tools
  • Remotely deploy, change, and revoke hundreds of policies and educational applications, while reducing typical downtime and costs

Prevent suicides, cyberbullying, and schoolviolence. Lightspeed Alert™ supports district administrators and selected personnel with advanced AI to detect and report potential threats before it’s too late.

  • Human review
  • Real-time alerts that flag signs of a potential threat
  • Intervene quickly before an incident occurs.
  • Activity logs provide visibility into online activity before and after a flagged event

Protect students from harmful online content. Lightspeed Filter™ is the best-in-class solution that acts as a solid barrier to inappropriate or illicit online content to ensure students’ online safety 24/7.

  • Powered by the most comprehensive database in the industry built through 20 years of web indexing and machine learning.
  • Ensure CIPA compliance
  • Block millions of inappropriate, harmful, and unknown sites, images, and video including YouTube
  • Keep parents informed with the Lightspeed Parent Portal™

Gain complete visibility into students’ online learning. Lightspeed Analytics™ gives districts robust data on the effectiveness of any tools they implement so they can take a strategic approach to their technology stack and streamline reporting.

  • Track education technology adoption and usage trends, eliminate redundancy, and drive ROI
  • Monitor app and content consumption to facilitate early adoption and effective utilization
  • Assess risk with visibility into student data privacy and security compliance