A Communication Solution for Effective Reception Across Campus

Overview

Location: Raleigh, NC 
Campus Type: Suburban 
Enrollment: 34,000+ 
Faculty/Staff: 8,000 
Campus Size: 2,099 acre
Number of buildings: 400

Today, mobile devices are ubiquitous on college campuses. Whether students head to class or the student center, they are seen talking, texting, or downloading the latest app on their phones. 

With widespread cell phone usage on campus, emergency and security officials have an effective way to simultaneously notify thousands of students about campus threats and provide potentially life-saving instructions. 

North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., incorporates cell phones into the school’s emergency mass notification system. Many of the school’s notification alerts — SMS, email, and social media — rely heavily on users to have cell reception or actively look at a specific app to see the message.

Challenge

But what if students and teachers are in a location, such as a large lecture hall, that has poor cell phone reception and no other forms of emergency communication? 

Todd Becker, North Carolina State’s Emergency Manager, faced this challenge. 

“Cell phone reception is minimal in the lower floors of the newer campus buildings,” said Becker. “We were concerned with delivering initial notifications and instructions to people in these buildings to shelter-in-place.”

Although the school deployed an outdoor siren system and had digital signage capabilities in some common student areas, this concern was valid. “We recognized this limitation in notifying people inside many of these buildings,” added Becker.

Solution

Becker felt the current notification system needed a visual component to display alerts on computer desktops, laptops, and digital signage. A visual alert would help ensure faculty and students in areas with poor cell coverage would receive the notification. The component also needed to integrate seamlessly into the current notification system.

Through the Alertus Desktop™ Donation Initiative, Becker deployed the Alertus Desktop Notification on more than 7,000 school-managed computers throughout the main campus, Centennial Campus (home to more than 70 public and private partners), and the College of Veterinary Medicine. When activated, the Alertus Desktop Notification immediately grabs the users’ attention with a full-screen pop-up alert and instructions.

“We saw Alertus as a means to reach people in classrooms, offices, and computer labs that typically have poor reception or may identify as shelter areas,” Becker added. “The integration with our existing systems and the grant made it an obvious choice for our campus.”

The Alertus Desktop Donation Initiative assists educational institutions that recognize the need to expand their emergency communications systems but have limited budgets.

Conclusion

By implementing the Alertus Desktop Notification, Becker addressed a significant security concern by not having the notification system dependent on cell phones. 

For NC State University Police, it is now standard protocol for Alertus to be part of all notifications for imminent threats, including tornado warnings and armed assaults. They also deploy Alertus for emergency events after business hours, as students or faculty may be leaving offices, libraries, or other facilities. 

While Becker is satisfied with the school’s current notification system, he evaluates other notification systems for efficiencies and best practices.