View some of the most frequently asked questions from our users. Still have questions after reading through our FAQ? Please reach out to dashboardsupport@firstviewapp.com.
I want FirstView, but I'm not sure where to get started. Who do I reach out to for more information?
For questions concerning logistics, pricing, and our current implementation capacity, please reach out to your local First Student Office. If you'd like to learn more about what FirstView provides, please reach out to implementation@firstviewapp.com to get started.
What do the different icons mean in the dashboard? I haven't seen any of these terms before, what do they all mean?
It can be tough to keep up with all the different lingo, but to quickly check up on what something means in the dashboard, just visit our glossary! It's got all the terms and explanations you'll need.
Why can I only see one school and not the entire district like other users?
Your permission level is controlled by the District Owner. Each district may have multiple owners in the transportation department and from the bus depot who has authority over inviting, managing, and removing users. You'll need to speak with the designated owner(s) in your district if you want to request additional access within the DistrictView. Not sure who that person is? Contact your district's transportation department and/or your local First Student bus depot.
For more info on this topic, visit our Signing On & Inviting New Users article.
What happens to the route and student data during the Summer?
We do not typically support summer tracking for FirstView. The FirstView team utilizes the Summer months to evaluate and update our product suite so that we are able to continue providing an excellent bus tracking and customer support experience to each school district.
Users of DistrictView and/or ParentView will still be able to login using the email and password they created when registering or confirming their account; however, ParentView users will no longer have any students and/or stops associated to their profile and all information needed to access the app will be reset.
Districts will need to provide users the codes needed to access the app once the data is available for the next school year. Users will be able to add their students/stop information back on the Parent App at the beginning of the next school year or when the district decides to deploy the Parent App.
Districts currently utilizing FirstView will receive a reminder and more information at the start and end of the Summer.
For questions, please reach out to dashboardsupport@firstviewapp.com.
Does FirstView track "planned" or "unplanned" changes to the normal bus route schedules?
FirstView does have the ability to track late starts (-LE) and early outs (-EE) in DistrictView ONLY as long as they are "planned" changes that the depot has entered into FOCUS prior to the time of the nightly import and the event is applied to the full route (meaning all schools on that route have the same scheduled time change). DistrictView will reflect the adjustment to the scheduled times and track as normal.
FirstView does not currently have the ability to track late starts and early outs in ParentView* and will not track "unplanned" or same day changes to the normal bus route schedule.
FirstView imports the daily bus schedule nightly from FOCUS. The scheduled stops and stop times that are visible in FirstView are a copy of the data as it existed in FOCUS when that nightly import took place. For this reason, same day schedule changes or "unplanned" changes due to inclement weather, driver shortage, route break-apart or repackaging, combined routes or other unforeseen circumstance will not be trackable in FirstView. To keep ParentView app users informed about the location of the bus, you can send service alerts from DistrictView.
*Schedules that include day variant routes to accommodate for "planned" schedule changes may be trackable in the app but will vary by district.
For questions about tracking, please reach out to dashboardsupport@firstviewapp.com.
What happens if the bus breaks down?
Your local First Student depot manages the bus assignments in their backend systems. FirstView will reflect changes or updates to bus assignments in the depot's backend systems if made before or during the route, as long as this assignment is unique but not if this route is being combined or repackaged with another existing route. If the reassignment is not made in the depot's backend system, tracking for the correct bus will not be available in FirstView.
Can I download or print the routes from DistrictView?
The DistrictView dashboard is a complimentary tool to ParentView and is meant to be a guide to assist with knowing where the bus is located and was not built for route performance analysis, reporting, or route management. Also, the FirstView team does not manage the route or student data; as such, there are no reporting, downloading, or print features available in the dashboard.
Who is responsible for communicating ParentView's availability once live?
To locate which registration type your district
is subscribed to, log into your FirstView DistrictView dashboard and look for
the lightbulb found in the Menu on the left sidebar below “See Walkthrough”.
Next, select the Launch Cheat Sheet below that matches your district’s
registration type:
FirstView GPS
Student ID w/Security
FirstView Street
(School Code)
FirstView Street
(School Code) w/Security
FirstView
Student ID w/Security
The FirstView team does not market the app to your community. We also do not provide parents with any district specific codes needed to access the app for security purposes. It is the district’s responsibility to determine how they would like to disseminate that information to their parents. For questions about marketing materials or how to communicate the app's availability to your community, please contact implementation@firstviewapp.com or your FirstView Implementation Specialist.
Does FirstView track extracurricular, field trip, or activity buses?
No. FirstView is currently only setup to track traditional home-to-school and special needs routes that are managed by First Student depots only.
Do you offer FirstView DistrictView training?
Yes! FirstView DistrictView training sessions are 30-45 minute and available for all dashboard users – whether you are new to FirstView or would like a refresher. Sessions are hosted by the FirstView Customer & Implementation Support teams.
How to attend a training session:
1. Log into https://admin.firstviewapp.com
2. Review your district’s registration type below “See Walkthrough”
3. Access the DistrictView Training Schedule - https://bit.ly/FirstView_DDWebinar
4. Select a time slot based on your registration type
5. Add the meeting link and time slot to your calendar
Does FirstView offer automated data import/exports?
No. We do not offer automatic uploads of data directly into or out of FirstView. All data powering FirstView comes from FOCUS (bus depot's proprietary back-end system) and Zonar (GPS Units installed on the vehicles). Imports of data into the depot's FOCUS system is done manually by the FOCUS Routing Data Integrity team. If you have questions regarding this data process, please connect with your local First Student depot.