Exciting 2025 Product Updates from Lightspeed Systems

Missed our inaugural Product Roadmap webinar? No worries!
You can watch the webinar on-demand OR keep reading for a recap of what you missed:

In this engaging session, Rob Chambers (VP of Product), Kate McDermott (Director of Product Management), and Matt Berg (Principal Product Manager) provided an exciting overview of our 2025 product roadmap. From innovative new features to upcoming product enhancements, we covered everything you need to know.

A Vision for 2025: Addressing Complex Challenges in Education

Schools are facing unprecedented challenges, from managing mental health crises to grappling with the rise in ransomware attacks, and the demands on IT and education leaders are greater than ever. Schools are juggling:

• Over 2,000 apps in use on average.
• Increasing student distractions from digital noise.
• Managing compliance requirements like CIPA and FERPA.
• Concerns around effective screen time usage.

The Lightspeed Systems suite of products—Lightspeed Filter, Lightspeed Alert, Lightspeed Classroom, Lightspeed MDM, and Lightspeed Insight—are designed to address these challenges by providing schools with visibility, control, and proactive solutions.

Introducing Lightspeed Signal: The Future of Device, Network, and App Management

Lightspeed Signal, our newest product, is launching this spring to revolutionize how schools manage their devices, networks, and apps. Lightspeed Signal consolidates critical insights into one platform, helping IT teams minimize downtime, troubleshoot faster, and focus on keeping students learning.

Key Features of Lightspeed Signal:

• Device Insights: Gain visibility into device usage, identify security risks (e.g., VPNs and proxies), and track issues like inactive or misplaced devices.
• Campus Network Insights: Monitor underperforming networks and prioritize repairs to ensure smooth connectivity for students and staff.
• App Health Notifications: Receive real-time alerts about app outages, including impacted users and error codes, so you can act fast.
• Internet Health: Identify students with poor internet access both at home and on campus, and access historical data to troubleshoot connectivity challenges.

💡 Want a closer look? Sign up for a demo to explore the full capabilities of Lightspeed Signal. 

Lightspeed Filter: Enhancing Security and Efficiency

Lightspeed Filter continues to set the standard for ensuring a safe and focused learning environment. In 2024 alone, Lightspeed Filter blocked over 3.3 billion security threats across 22 million students worldwide.

Recent and Upcoming Updates:

• Web Activity Log Enhancements: Improved filtering options and the ability to return up to a million records for easier investigations.
• Next-Generation Filtering Policies: A centralized hub for managing policies, offering streamlined workflows, policy prioritization, and a simplified troubleshooting process.
• Shared Domains Category: A new category targeting sites obscuring malicious content through shared domain space.
• Top-Level Domain Filtering: Block entire TLDs to reduce exposure to malicious or inappropriate content.

💬 Question Highlight:
How will the new filtering policies work for users in multiple groups?
Answer: With our new system, policies will prioritize based on a drag-and-drop priority system, ensuring specific policies (like staff or penalty box rules) always take precedence over group-based policies.

Lightspeed Classroom: Keeping Students Focused

Lightspeed Classroom empowers teachers by providing real-time classroom monitoring tools. In 2024, we supported over 380,000 teachers, closing 10.7 million distracting browser tabs to keep students on task.

What’s New and Coming Soon:

• Hall Monitor: A built-in digital hall pass solution to track student movement throughout the school.
• Class Highlights: AI-powered insights to help teachers assess student engagement and improve classroom strategies.
• Ad Hoc Scheduling: A simplified way for teachers to start on-demand sessions with flexible timing.
• Tab Count Visibility: Teachers can close excessive tabs to help students refocus.

💡 Don’t Miss It! Sign up for the Lightspeed Classroom Roadmap webinar on March 6th to explore these features in greater detail.

Lightspeed Alert: Proactive Student Safety

Lightspeed Alert continues to help schools build a proactive safety culture, identifying risks before they escalate. In 2024, Lightspeed Alert flagged over 1,400 cases of self-harm intent and 540 potential school violence threats, enabling early intervention.

Key Updates:

• Device Location Data: Track device locations and view location history directly within Alert.
• SMS Notifications: Receive real-time alerts via text for high-risk or imminent threats.
• Canvas LMS Integration (Coming Soon): Monitor activity within Canvas for BYOD and student-owned devices.
• AI Sensitivity Configuration: Customize AI alert sensitivity levels to align with your district’s needs.

💬 Question Highlight:
How does device location data support safety monitoring?
Answer: You can view a map of the device’s location history, helping identify misplaced or stolen devices and enabling faster responses to safety concerns.

Lightspeed Insight: Maximizing ROI on Tech Investments 

Lightspeed Insight is your go-to app analytics solution. Transform app insights into data privacy compliance, optimized costs, and data-driven decisions. In 2024, Lightspeed Insight tracked 6.1 million app activities, helping one district save $1.5 million by identifying unused or redundant apps.

Recent and Upcoming Features:

• Enhanced App Approval Workflow: Simplify app vetting with a new “Needs Review” queue and automated public list updates.
• Block Apps via Filter: Automatically block unapproved apps using Insight’s integration with Filter.
• Multiple Public Lists (Coming Soon): Create up to three customized public app lists (e.g., for staff, parents, or teachers).
• Improved License Management: Compare current and expired licenses side-by-side to optimize ROI and track unused licenses.

💡 Curious how your district stacks up? Sign up for a free app audit to uncover insights like generative AI usage, compliance gaps, and more.

Lightspeed MDM: Simplifying Device Management 

Lightspeed MDM continues to streamline device management for schools, with recent updates including:

• Declarative Device Management: Support for Apple’s DDM protocol for iOS devices.
• Return to Service: Simplify reactivating previously used devices for new students.
• Software Update Settings (Coming Soon): Manage when and how iOS devices install system updates.

Stay Connected

We’re committed to supporting your district’s success. Whether through webinars, live training, or our Lightspeed Champions program, we’re here to help.

💡 Join the Lightspeed Champions program to gain early access to beta testing, win rewards, and provide feedback that shapes the future of our products.

Conclusion

Lightspeed Systems remains your partner in navigating the challenges of modern education. With innovative solutions like Lightspeed Signal, enhanced filtering policies, and robust safety monitoring, we’re here to help you create safe, productive, and efficient learning environments.

Got questions or feedback? We’d love to hear from you!