Going Mobile

As more schools acknowledge that tragedies such as the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech shootings can become a reality at any campus, school officials are using technology to create advanced emergency notification systems.

Technology advances allow for mobile technology to integrate into existing emergency notification systems to provide immediate notification to an entire student population or small groups. The systems can also provide information for parents and other key stakeholders.
There are numerous emergency notification systems available that are designed to function with cell phones, PDAs and other mobile devices. Notifications can be sent to devices in the form of voice mail, text messages, multimedia messages, video messages, e-mail and other methods.

The 2008 School Safety Index, a survey of more than 400 IT security directors at educational facilities by CDW Government Inc. (See page 24), reported that of the 45 percent of districts using a mass notification system, only 32 percent used new technologies such as text message delivery systems, 70 percent use automated phone messages and 61 percent use e-mail alerts.

Most systems target faculty and staff, but do not often reach police and other emergency responders, the report states.

The following products are a sample of some of the mobile notification systems that are available to campuses.

School’s Out by NotiSys, LLC:
School’s Out is a service that allows parents to receive immediate notification regarding the status of their child’s school at all times. In case of an emergency, school cancellation or other issues, the Web site will notify the subscriber by text message.

Schools do not have to develop an internal network or emergency notification infrastructure to post notices to the site, and parents can receive e-mails from the site or search the site for recent activity within the district for free. Parents pay annually to receive text message notifications. The district does not pay anything to post notices to the Web site.

Urgent Alert by VoiceShot:
Educational facilities can use the Web-based Urgent Alert system to send emergency notices, weather alerts, volunteer mobilization notices and other information. Automatic messages can be pre-recorded and sent out in the form of a voice message to cell phones, landlines and voicemail boxes. Upon hearing the message, callers have the option to hear more details or speak with a live representative.

Text messages can also be sent independently or in conjunction with voice messages. Phone lists can be stored online with an indefinite number of recipients. Cost plans vary, including a pay-as-you-send option that only charges for text or voicemails received. Disconnected numbers and busy signal calls will result in no charge.

AlertFind by MessageOne:
AlertFind provides emergency notifications, weather advisories and other information that could affect students or faculty studying abroad at education facilities. The system distributes warnings through many means including landlines, cell phones, e-mail and text messaging to any location worldwide.

If a person receives the message, the system will ask if the individual is OK, record the response and distribute the message to crisis managers. The system is implemented by gathering and maintaining up-to-date information from students, staff and faculty, and establishing contact procedures within the system.

Rave Campus by Rave Wireless Inc:.
The Rave Campus system combines the ability to send safety and curriculum notifications. Professors can send homework updates, students can upload lectures, officials can create personalized alerts for the school and emergency notices can be sent through Rave Campus. In an emergency situation, the device works as a GPS location device and transmits a signal to display the device’s location.

The system works in conjunction with most major mobile providers and sends alerts in text message, e-mail and voice message formats. In an emergency situation, students can single-click a widget to place a panic call to campus police. A timer can also be activated by students that will notify campus security of their location if they feel unsafe.

CommSuite by SchoolMessenger:
CommSuite can be integrated with Cisco Unified Call Manager so messages can be sent from any Web browser, touch-tone phone and Cisco IP phones. Messages are delivered to parents or staff through voice, text or e-mail.

Additional technologies in the package include: integration with off-site capacity for rapid broadcasts; routine notifications such as absence calls; self-maintaining call lists that can be updated from more than 130 sources; and 24-hour customer service.

School System Alert by NetStrategies & Management Inc.:
School System Alert is a Web-based system that allows school officials to send thousands of emergency notifications. The messages are backed-up and routed through a remote hub in case a communication hub is down. The system also offers a redundant service to ensure security.

Students, parents, faculty and staff maintain an online profile that contains detailed contact information for cell phones, PDAs, e-mail accounts and other communication methods. Test alerts can be sent to the mobile device directly from the Web site to ensure delivery. Emergency messages are sent from the Web site, averaging about 15,000 alerts a minute. Messages can be sent in text, e-mail or voice message formats.

WENS by Inspiron Logistics Corp.:
The Wireless Emergency Notific-ation System uses text messaging to notify students of an emergency on a university campus. The system allows authorized personnel to send messages directly from a mobile device. WENS also utilizes the Imaging and Video Delivery System, which allows the campus community to send pictures or video to campus police.

A delivery receipt and report records information such as time received and indicates who received a message. When a message isn’t received, the system will continue to resend every five seconds until the message is delivered. Students can submit up to three phone numbers and an e-mail address for emergency messages.

NotifyMySchool.com by RemindMyCustomers.com:
The notification system allows thousands of emergency messages, reminders, schedule changes and other notices to be received by cell phone, voicemail, text message, landline with an extension, e-mail and other means. Messages can be stored on the system and scheduled for delivery months in advance.

The system is designed for all educational facilities. Messages can be sent to small groups or the entire user population. The service is being modified to include school-friendly features, but is still available to educational institutions.