Boise State Boosts Campus Security with Safety App

BOISE, Idaho — In an effort to increase campus security, Boise State University has adopted a new safety app. The university has partnered with Rave Mobile Safety, a creator of public safety data and communication software based in Framingham, Mass., to deploy the company’s Rave Guardian Campus Safety App. The nearly 25,000-student university located in Ada County is one of more than 1,200 higher institutions across the country to integrate the safety technology.

Elliot Cox, a security analyst for the university, explained in a statement that the Rave Guardian app can turn any student, staff or faculty cell phone into a mobile personalized blue light device. “It does everything that an emergency blue light phone does now, and that allows the user to do touch-of-a-button calls to Boise State campus security as well as to the Ada County Dispatch Center," Cox said.

Boise State University is Idaho’s largest university, with a campus that spans 175 acres. To reduce the potential safety challenges posed by the large and spread-out campus, the app allows users to create a virtual safety network of friends, roommates, family and campus safety officials. For example, any student navigating the campus alone can set a safety timer session that, once activated, allows "personal guardians" within that virtual safety network to monitor the user’s status updates and location. If the timer expires or if the user initiates a panic call, the app will automatically notify campus safety officials.

In the event of an emergency, a special button on a user’s mobile device can also connect immediately to campus safety, and a rich profile of the caller and their GPS location is automatically displayed. The student-created safety profiles can provide details such as residence address and medical condition information, which are automatically presented to campus safety officials during emergency calls. The app further allows Boise State users to communicate anonymously if they choose with campus safety officials via two-way messaging.

"We are continuing to see strong momentum with schools recognizing the benefits that Rave Guardian offers to campuses of all sizes," said Tom Axbey, CEO of Rave Mobile Safety, in a statement. "Our Guardian App enables colleges to empower their community with a direct link to campus safety, increasing safety for everyone. We are very pleased to be able to bring greater protection to Idaho’s largest institution of higher learning."