Page 28 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2021

Mass Notification
"The road ahead may seem daunting, but the good news is that the evolution of Mass Notification System (MNS) technol- ogy can help to enhance safety, minimize learning disruption, and improve school- wide communication — even in a new
OCOVID-19 landscape."
rganizations of every kind, particularly higher education campuses, were forced to navigate and adjust to several changes throughout 2020. In addition to finding creative ways to maintain a productive learning year amid the COVID-19 crisis, implementing improved on-campus safety
measures and staying connected in a remote or hybrid environment quickly became a top priority for school leaders.
While this strange, unpredictable year is finally behind us, last year is proof that school communities should strive to be better prepared for any additional challenges and uncertainties in store for 2021.
The road ahead may seem daunting, but the good news is that the evolution of Mass Notification System (MNS) technology can help to enhance safety, minimize learning disruption, and improve school- wide communication — even in a new COVID-19 landscape.
Lessons Learned: Navigating the Unpredictable
The unusual circumstances of 2020 triggered a slew of questions from employees, staff and students as they attempted to make sense of their new normal. While navigating COVID-19 disruptions, many school
leaders learned how critical it was to maintain transparency with a regular flow of communication.
“People were really looking for guidance. Information was chang- ing as we learned more about COVID-19 and how it was impacting our community. Providing timely and reliable information was key to keeping everyone headed in the same direction and making things work as well as they did for us on campus,” explained Grant Azdell, vice president of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Randolph- Macon College, as well as the founder of Azdell-Morgan Organiza- tional Management Solution. “We initiated a schedule of weekly updates to help keep our campus informed. Even if it was to say how we were doing, we sent it out regularly. We also provided a daily dashboard with trackable figures to help our community understand where we stood, as well as how the community around us was doing.”
Using a variety of software and hardware with highly intelligible capabilities such as Text-to-Speech functionality, MNS technology is specifically designed to create a rapid, seamless response for unex- pected circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Preparing for the unpredictable is a difficult task for any organiza- tion,” said Patrick Dennin, director of education sales at Alertus Technologies. “Taking a proactive approach towards your mass noti- fication provides a streamlined activation of organizational commu- nication in high-pressure scenarios. Quick granular updates to pre- scripted messages ensure that your population receives as detailed information as possible when faced with the unpredictable.”
Leveraging MNS Tools
in a Dispersed Learning Environment
With many colleges and universities still operating in a dispersed envi- ronment at home and on campus, sending mass emails isn’t enough to stay regularly connected. Emails often get overlooked or lost in a crowded inbox, and sometimes emails are simply not checked on a regular basis.
28 campuslifesecurity.com | MARCH/APRIL 2021