By Michele Herrmann April 2008 Along with Code Maroon, other alert methods used at Texas A&M involve a reverse 911 system for notifying key personnel, broadcasting messages over campus radio, inserting messages on television through its cable television plant, and sending bulk e-mails. Ithaca College (N.Y.) administrators also have a multichannel communication system. Last fall, the school adopted Connect-ED, offered through Blackboard Connect. The system sends a message simultaneously through e-mail, campus and cell phone voicemail, and text message. Intercom, an on-campus system, posts information on a website accessible to the campus community about campus crime incidents, in keeping with the requirements of the Clery Act. Plans to install a loudspeaker system on campus are under way. "You never know what the situation is going to be, for people who don't have a cell phone with them or who are not by a computer," notes Brian McAree, vice president for Student Affairs and Campus Life. He adds that such a system "provides another vehicle for sending an important emergency message." Fellow New Yorkers at Adelphi University began working with MessageOne last summer to use AlertFind, an emergency notification system that broadcasts urgent messages and delivers instructions to the campus community via the user's preferred method. This includes text or voice messages to a cell phone, home phone, or e-mail address. The system allows for two-way communication, so users can respond with any updates or requested information. Along with its main campus in Garden City, N.Y., Adelphi's centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie also have coverage through the system. "Many of our students and faculty attend classes or work at multiple Adelphi locations. It would be impossible to know at any given time where an individual is during an emergency," says Gene Palma, executive director of Public Safety and Transportation and vice president of the Long Island College and University Consortium. "We have the MessageOne system set up so that all emergency notifications are sent out to the entire Adelphi community." Adelphi also has an "all hazards" emergency response plan, which emphasizes fast reaction by senior university officials to incidents, swift notification of emergency services, and prompt communication within the university community through a variety of means. Additional mechanisms include e-mail, voice mail, website alerts, emergency call-in numbers, TV, and radio broadcasts. "Having multiple tools in order to receive emergency notifications is essential to any organization and its emergency response plan," says Palma. "By continuing to be proactive we hope to improve awareness of urgent university communications and increase our personal safety." THE POWER OF IP  During a crisis, public safety officials need details just as the campus safety team does. Officials at Bryant University (R.I.) implemented the Internet Protocol Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS) by Cisco in 2006 for day-to-day direct radio communication between campus public safety, campus management, and its residential life office.
After Virginia Tech, they recognized the system's ability to connect campus safety officials to each other as well as to off-campus officials in a crisis. By pushing a button, a Bryant official can share information directly by landline, cell phone, computer, or handheld radio. "If a situation arises, I don't have to worry about what that individual communicates with," says Rich Siedzik, director of Computer and Telecommunication Services. Working with two area fire departments, Bryant extended IPICS first to a number of public safety agencies in its town, Smithfield, and then to neighboring Rhode Island communities including North Smithfield, Glocester, and Woonsocket, and Connecticut's Quinebaug Valley Regional Dispatch Center. It's also connected with Rhode Island's E-911 system (which allows dispatchers to know a caller's exact location), an American Red Cross chapter, and emergency response contacts in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. IPICS allows a campus official to share information with as few or as many of these groups as needed. |
