Having the right solution means institutions can offer warnings quicker, easier
It’s never been easier to communicate to the masses than it is right now. A bounty of solutions are available not only to schools and campuses, but also for the corporate campus setting to provide safety and security.
First public mass notification program rolled out in New York City
Life moves fast in New York, and New Yorkers wouldn't want it any other way. We demand fast service, fast talking and fast transportation, and now the city has a public notification program that keeps everyone informed with important up-to-date alerts wherever they go.
Failure to plan does not constitute an emergency today
A failure to plan oftentimes translates into a plan to fail. Thankfully, there are people who professionally train for failure and are able to transition a failure to plan into a mass notification system that alerts the masses when disaster is on the brink. Disaster recovery comes in many forms, with equally interesting fashions.
Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, stretches across more than 5,000 acres and includes over 2.9 million square feet of facilities. More than 11,000 students are in residence at the university. Not surprisingly, communications presents challenges for campus leaders.
AtHoc's IWSAlerts software will enable Texas A&M University to send out emergency alerts to its campus population through multiple devices, including campus computers, via pop up alerts, Emergency Alert System radio broadcasts, cable TV, telephones, mass e-mails and SMS text messages, from a single Web-based console.
College campuses are spearheading a widespread shift to the use of mass notification systems for emergency response. As a result, both security and IT professionals are learning more about how mass notification systems can best be applied in emergency situations, and how public communications infrastructure, especially wireless networks, needs to be reengineered to handle a surge in outbound traffic.
From an earthquake to a terrorist attack, getting the word out quickly to people in harm’s way is critical to protecting property and, more importantly, saving lives. Alerting methods have evolved over time, and the newest technology available in an emergency operator’s toolkit is network-centric emergency alerting.
Xirrus Inc. recently announced that the county of San Bernardino in California chose the company’s 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays as part of the county’s Disaster Response Mobile Connectivity Solution.
Inova Solutions, a provider of emergency message displays, recently released an upgrade to its visual mass notification system, Inova OnAlert. The enhanced system offers e-mail-based message delivery, audible tones to complement visual messages, and a synchronized timekeeping function.
IP-based fire alarm systems increase control while decreasing costs
With increasing use of VoIP as an alternative to conventional circuitswitched phone services, security and life safety professionals are looking to the Internet for communicating information from fire alarm control panels to a central monitoring station. IP delivers such benefits as faster data transmissions, reduced costs and the immediate notification of line interruptions at both the central station and the protected premises.
How do you tell potentially thousands of people how to avoid an imminent threat? At Cleveland State University, fire alarm panels in 84 buildings will connect via the school’s fiber backbone network. Using a central controller, the school will be able to issue a network- wide warning or to send a message to one building, a specific floor or a single classroom.
There was a time you could set your watch by it. Throughout the Cold War years, every Friday at 1 p.m., towns across America tested their air raid sirens. It was an exercise in basic mass notification.