Schools seek ‘easy button’ approach to mass notification systems
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—After the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting incident, colleges and universities in the United States and Canada rushed to implement more robust mass notification systems to better communicate with students and staff in times of emergency.
Initially, those systems sent text messages, emails and automated phone calls. But they were often slow and clunky, susceptible to failure or dependent on unreliable platforms, such as an overburdened local cellular network, according to experts who spoke to Security Director News, the sister publication of Security Systems News, for this story.Over the years, as money became available, schools invested in their mass notification systems, adding layers of communication that ensure redundancy on top of their existing systems, such as digital signage in classrooms and meeting areas, outdoor and indoor sirens, and social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.
However, more robust mass notification systems have created their own challenges, according to Berkly Trumbo, a national business manager for enterprise solutions and an emergency management specialist at Siemens. Schools added layers to their mass notification systems “without having a road map,” Trumbo said, which has led to problems integrating them all into one solution.
While the need for multiple layers is very real, the reality is that the more non-integrated layers there are, the longer it takes to send an alert, according to Dave Bujak, emergency management coordinator at Florida State University. Imagine having to open multiple user interfaces to activate each layer. Shaving time off that process is a major trend in colleges and universities, Bujak told SDN: "Because when seconds mean the difference between life and death, you can't afford minutes to issue warnings."
Reducing the time it takes to activate its mass notification system is the driver behind Florida State University's "easy-button project," which it has been developing with Siemens for the past two years, Bujak said. The project is "days away" from its launch, Bujak said in late January.
FSU is among the country's most aggressive schools when it comes to developing an integrated mass notification system, Bujak said. The school now identifies 32 layers as part of its system. (To compare, FSU had six layers at the time of the Virginia Tech shooting.) Those 32 layers are broken down into 10 "primary" modes of contact, including the FSU website, desktop alerts, emails, text messages and indoor and outdoor sirens; nine "secondary" modes of contact, which include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, FSU's mobile
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