Emergency text notification system:

5 questions

Photo by Desirée Myers

TU's top cop urges faculty, staff, students to register

Earlier this month TU implemented a state-of-the-art notification system capable of sending messages instantly and simultaneously to text-message-capable phones, Blackberrys, PDAs and other wireless devices. Bernard Gerst, chief of police, explains how the system works and why everyone should register.

Why did TU launch this system?
We were looking into this for a long time, but last month’s shootings at Virginia Tech tragically brought the need to the forefront of everyone’s attention. President Caret responded quickly by allocating funds for an emergency communications system. The Procurement Department then expedited the process, along with the TU Police Department, and we had our notification system up and running in a matter of days.

How does the text messaging alert system work?
After registering your phone number and email address with our service provider, e2Campus, the system will automatically send urgent messages to your text-message-capable mobile phone, wireless devices and e-mail address. It’s the surest way to receive timely notifications critical to your safety and well-being.

What type of notification groups do you have?
There are three groupings—urgent crime alerts, campus closings, and severe weather alerts. The urgent crime alerts will not be the same as the traditional crime alerts you receive in your email account—they’re for crimes that just occurred or are in progress, and we’ll send them judiciously. We have a second category for campus closings due to power outages, snow and the like. A third category covers severe and dangerous weather alerts, such as tornado or hurricane watches or warnings, where it’s critical to get the news out in minutes. Users can sign up for one, two or all three groups, and can log in to their account to change their settings if they wish.

After you register, how do you know you've signed up successfully?
After completing the validation part of registering, say, your mobile phone, the next Web page will say, "You have successfully signed up," and you will see a login button for your account. To complete your registration, you must open your account, enter your e-mail address and click the "Add E-mail" button. You will instantly be e-mailed a verification. Open this e-mail and click on the validation link. Clicking on this link verifies that you're signed up successfully.

How many people have signed up so far?
More than 2,500 members of the campus community have signed up so far, but we’re aiming to reach 15,000 people. We strongly encourage everyone—all faculty, staff and students—to register. It only takes a minute.

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