Emergency alert system closer to implementation
Published Oct. 2, 2007
On Sept. 25, university officials met to discuss procedures and prospective criteria for an emergency notification system that could utilize personal communication devices to warn MU students, staff and faculty of eminent danger on campus.
Terry Robb, MU Division of Information Technology Director, whose department would be responsible for the actual delivery of emergency messages, said the officials met primarily to discuss the delegation of the authority among university offices to initiate the emergency system if an incident were to occur.
Robb said the "upper echelons" of the UM system - such as the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services, as well as university law enforcement and communications officials — would be charged with the responsibility of authorizing an alert message.
But he said a procedure for authorizing an alert has not yet been finalized, and a meeting to discuss the issue further has not yet been scheduled.
Robb said "barring any unforeseen factors," the alert system would be operational before the end of the semester.
The UM system has partnered with the National Notification Network, or 3n, to form an emergency alert system that could send warnings and instructions to faculty, students and staff through text messaging, cell phones and instant messaging in the event of an incident.
Communication devices would have to be registered with the university to receive the communiques.
Services will be rendered to all four universities in the UM system.
3n is a private mass communications provider, based in Glendale, Calif., whose services are often used by hospitals, government entities and law enforcement, Director of Marketing Linda Souza said.
Souza said although her company has serviced colleges and universities before this year, the shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in April "sped up the timeline" for academic institutions to improve security.
Souza said her company is providing services to Virginia Tech.
A similar system is being used by St. John's University in Queens, N.Y., which on Sept. 26 saw an armed gunman enter campus, according to a news release by the school. The release also stated the gunman was subdued by a public safety officer and a student without incident.
The release stated students were issued a warning via its emergency services in less than 10 minutes.
During a Sept. 27 press conference, New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly praised St. John's University's emergency response efforts.
"As you know, St. John's newly instituted emergency text messaging system worked like a charm," Kelly said.
Robb said university officials were also considering an emergency notification system that could alert people without registered communication devices through an encrypted FM radio signal sent to buildings on campus, but such a system was still in the "very preliminary" planning stages. He said university officials met on Oct. 1 with representatives from Purple Tree Technologies, a Columbia-based company providing emergency communication systems.
Joe Bussell, vice president of development at Purple Tree Technologies, said its emergency notification system is still in the prototype stages and has not yet been implemented by any entities, private or public.