New emergency alert system utilizes cell text messages

Students, faculty and staff can sign up for this alert service

By: Anneke Tucker

Posted: 10/16/08

Oregon State and the Oregon University System have a new situation in mind that would, in one instant, set every cell phone in the vicinity ringing in the event of a campus emergency.

With the help of Blackboard ConnectED, an emergency alert system, Oregon State and four other universities in Oregon have implemented a system to let students know what is going on around campus in the case of an emergency.

"Within seven minutes, all students, faculty and staff who are entered in the system will have been alerted," said Jack Rogers, director of public safety on campus. After the shooting incident at Virginia Tech last year, many colleges and universities around the nation have been looking for ways to keep their students safe.

"Prior to using Blackboard ConnectED, OSU had developed nine generic emergency messages for the entire university, regarding inclement weather, shootings, chemical spills and more," Rogers said.

The only problem was that these messages could only be received through campus phones and e-mail. The difficulty was in reaching the students who had already arrived or were en route to campus.

The Oregon State campus is considered to be extremely safe, with a public safety department and state police located directly on campus with a three- to five-minute response time. But they realized it was imperative to find a way to get people out of dangerous situations and keep them out of the area.

The emergency alert system, through text messages, e-mail, phones and cell phones, was the answer.

The OSU Department of Public Safety and campus officials count on the system to work well. In a practice situation, Rogers recalls having five of his six methods of communication that he had entered into the system with him on his desk.

"Right at two o'clock, as we had planned, everything started going off at once. About thirty seconds later, my wife called saying we had gotten a phone call at home from the emergency alert service," Rogers said.

"We are blown away by the capabilities," said Todd Simmons, assistant vice president of news and communications services. "Originally, the OSU campus was alerted of an emergency with a World War II siren that could be heard in Junction City, but it didn't give any direction or instruction."

Simmons predicted that in time, they will even be able to target students, faculty and staff that are in certain buildings where there is a dangerous situation.

As familiarity grows with the system, it will even be possible for students to text back, acknowledging receipt of the message. Some voice messages may even have the voice of OSU President Ed Ray.

Initially, many were worried that it would begin to be more like a mass e-mailing list, alerting people of things like homecoming, scholarships and other non-emergency notifications.

"We have done a good job of protecting it from information technology," Simmons said. "We are very tight with the system. There are only six people who currently have posting capability."

As long as students don't give out their ONID passwords, as in the recent phishing attacks, the system will be safe and secure.

If students do see an emergency situation occurring, they should contact the campus emergency dispatch in case the system would need to be activated.

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to register their emergency contact information through the OSU Alert Portal at alert.oregonstate.edu where they can enter up to nine points of contact: six different telephone numbers, two e-mail addresses and set priorities for each. Choosing the text message alert is also an option.

There is a link on the left side of the page called "Enter your emergency contact information." You will need your ONID e-mail address and student ID number to log in.

"This system makes it even more important to keep your cell phone with you," Simmons said.

There is a cost with this new system - but not to students.

"It costs $1.65 per student account, and is covered by the university," Rogers said. "We have already paid for 26,000 accounts; all you have to do is be involved."

The only minor inconvenience to students would be a quarterly test message sent to the entire system to make sure it is working properly.

"We are excited and anxious to get students involved," Rogers said.

The emergency alert system is also very dependable. "We say it has the five nines: 99.999 percent of the time it is up and running," Rogers said. The .001 percent accounts for the five minutes per year that the system performs self-maintenance, during which another system will act as a backup.

"It's dependable, it won't break, it's well-staffed and it's well-maintained," Rogers said.

Just because the alert system is being implemented, though, doesn't mean security and emergency officials expect the sky to fall any time soon.

"No one wants to ever have to answer the question, 'why weren't you prepared for this?'" Simmons said. "We just want to keep people safe."

Anneke Tucker, staff writer

news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231