Page 142 - Security Today, July/August 2019

ecosystem and help increase the reach of your messages. Spreading information should leverage as many devices as possible. More devices means a greater variety of message types that can be employed, increas- ing the chances that everyone receives the messages.
Other ecosystem opportunities include automated early warnings for earthquakes, severe weather and gunshot detection.
February: Understanding Social Media’s Role
Through social media, everyone is empowered to become a source for information. While this can help spread the word at the onset of an emergency, it can also hinder the response to an ongoing incident by adding confusing and incorrect information into the conversation.
Since many people’s first instinct is to check social media, organi- zations need to create trustworthy channels that are updated regu- larly. Our experience is that Twitter is most helpful for providing accurate updates to ongoing situations. This can help keep personnel informed and updated regularly, but also serves as a source for par- ents and the media who can recognize it as an official channel to receive information.
March/April: Prepare for Severe Weather
Severe weather is always a concern. To protect students and staff, you need to develop efficient methods for monitoring potential weather events, and getting the word out to protect people when threatening weather approaches. Different parts of the country face different weather threats, but with a mass notification system that monitors a CAP feed from the National Weather Service, campuses can track alerts that are relevant for their geographical area. These messages can then automatically trigger mass notifications to specific groups that can then manage the situation.
Messages can provide people with a location they should go to when severe weather approaches. Taking action and getting to a safe location can mean the difference between escaping harm, injury or death. Consider what the hazard is and how that impacts where your people should go. Should they shelter in place (tornado) or evacuate (hurricane)? Go low (tornado) or go high (tsunami or flash flood)? Answering these questions in advance and including them in a mass notification can help save time and get people to safety quickly.
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May: Keep Graduation Visitors Safe
As the school year winds down, colleges and universities need to prepare for the influx of visitors that come during graduation cel- ebrations. While students will be familiar with mass notification procedures and are likely connected to systems that send alerts, visitors do not have that luxury. If an emergency occurs during graduation weekend, campuses need to have the tools in place to assist visitors.
An easy way to keep people informed is by reaching them on their mobile devices. Certain mass notification systems will allow visitors to opt-in to receive emergency notifications. Using mobile phones, they can text a number with a simple message to begin receiving emergency notifications via SMS text messages. Visitors can also reg- ister via a web browser. When sending communications to students and families about graduation, include instructions for how they can register to receive emergency notification and post signs around cam- pus during graduation weekend with similar information.
June/July: Regular Testing Ensure Effectiveness
With the school year finished and new one set to begin, now is the perfect time to test everything you’ve set up over the course of the year. Mass notification systems have many moving parts that need to be in sync. Since these solutions can connect to multiple devices, it’s important that messages get sent to the right places, at the right volume, and in the right format. With fewer people on campus, you can safely conduct testing without worrying that people will mis- take the test for a real situation. It’s also a good time to test your incident response with different departments and even external organizations using collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex Teams.
This is just an outline of the mass notification projects a campus can accomplish over the course of a year. Depending on your campus and resources, there may be other projects to tackle. You can also rearrange or combine projects in this list as you see fit. Assess the mass notifica- tion needs of your campus and begin building a plan that will keep students, faculty, staff and visitors safe throughout the year.
Pat Scheckel is the VP of Product Management for Singlewire Software.
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