Page 29 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2021

Leveraging additional communication methods is a practical way to increase com- munication redundancy, ensure all notifica- tions are received, and heighten awareness more efficiently.
Desktop Alerting
School-wide communication. Desktop alert- ing is a great option for frequent communica- tion — emergency and non-emergency relat- ed — in a hybrid schooling environment. For instance, teachers could keep students engaged by sending desktop notifications about upcoming exams, quizzes, and major projects. Desktop communications offering daily affirmations, study and health tips, and even inspirational quotes could also help keep everyone motivated while away from campus.
A desktop alerting solution makes it easy to facilitate timely, school-wide communica- tion no matter where recipients are located. Through a full-screen takeover, the message covers the entire display of the computer screen so that it is visible, easy-to-read and captures the attention of the recipient imme- diately.
Schools could also opt for a partial-screen computer desktop pop-up, or a less intrusive ticker alert at the top or bottom of the screen, for ongoing campus announcements. With a recipient acknowledgment feature, there is no need to worry about whether a notifica- tion went through.
Transition to On-site Learning. Preparing to return to a safe campus environment will require extensive planning and various updated protocols.
“With a group that is 44% asymptomatic, our best screening tools will not detect folks who are carriers coming on campus,” said Clifford Anderson, director of public safety at Anoka Technical College. “Having PPE, good hygiene plans and social distancing are game changers regardless of location.”
To keep everyone informed and up to date about important on-site changes, desktop alerting could be implemented for social dis- tance guidelines and reminders, new sani- tary procedures, updated policies and proce- dures, and much more prior to the transition back to campus. Sending frequent desktop reminders and announcements beforehand, without oversaturating email inboxes, will likely help everyone to feel more comfortable and prepared for the return.
School boards also have the option of implementing a desktop alerting extension to accommodate Chrome browsers and Chromebook computers and tablets. This solution can easily be installed from the Chrome Web Store, or school leaders can push the extension to all school computers using G Suite or Group Policy.
Mobile Alerting
Given the global spike in cellular network usage over the past year, mobile app alerts can provide a more reliable method of send- ing and receiving alerts within a matter of seconds using just a WiFi connection. Mobile app alerting helps to ensure that important messages reach an entire school community, even if anyone is away from their computers or not checking email.
A high-quality mobile alerting system provides a platform for authorized safety personnel to quickly send alerts to faculty, staff, and students via Android or iOS tablets
or smartphones. These alerts could be planned ahead of time with preset emergen- cy templates and edited on the fly to fit the specific communication or emergency. Mobile app recipients, on the other hand, can receive push notifications and quickly send geo-tagged incident reports to safety staff as needed.
Overcoming Communication Challenges
High-quality, innovative MNS tools can help overcome a wide range of school communi- cation challenges.
In addition to offering more reliable methods of communication, the advances in MNS technology make it possible for school communities to provide both visual and audible alerting messages to their school population. That means higher education institutions would have a higher chance of reaching everyone on campus, including those with different auditory or visual ability, regardless of their physical location.
With a comprehensive, flexible and inte- grated communication solution, these visual and audible alerting messages could be sent from a single point of activation to every available communication channel within the building, such as desktop computers, VoIP phones, speakers and fire alarm panels. A multi-layered alerting process is especially beneficial at a time when limited on-campus capacity makes it harder for people to look to their peers for emergency-related informa- tion or acknowledgment.
An effective communication system is key to keeping organizations connected during an unpredictable situation. As higher educa- tion institutions move forward with 2021 planning, efficient and rapid community- wide communication should be a top priori- ty for a successful school year.
Stephanie Osorno is the lead copywriter at Alertus Technologies.
By Stephanie Osorno
Preparing for the
Unpredictable
Lessons learned in 2020 from deploying this security solution
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