Page 32 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2022

“In addition to planning messages, campus leaders can also plan and upload resources into their mass notification system to help aid people during a crisis... Assets like safety checklists, floor plans, diagrams, images, and other helpful resources can all be uploaded and then accessed remotely via a computer or mobile device.”
Communicating a message so everyone on campus receives it is a challenge in and of itself. When that message contains urgent safety information, minor annoyanc- es can become major headaches that put people at risk. Those issues multiply when an emergency occurs and campus leaders need to send multiple messages to different groups of people. All too often, people end up miss- ing a message, or an important step gets missed because of overly complex processes.
Many campuses are realizing that it’s not enough to just get a message out at the onset of an incident. The mass notification solution they implemented five or ten years ago may not adequately reach every area of campus or may not be able to handle the complexities modern emergencies demand. However, as the needs of campuses evolve, so does the technology that addresses those needs. Mass notification systems are no exception.
Most campuses have plans in place to help them manage an emergency when it occurs. However, those plans often exist in a three- ring binder in someone’s desk or on a shelf in an office. They aren’t easily accessible to everyone and are rarely set up to be used at a pace that keeps up with the rate at which an event unfolds.
So, the question becomes not just how can a campus reach everyone as quickly as pos- sible when an event occurs, but how can a campus successfully manage an emergency from start to finish? For many campuses, the
By Paul Shain
Mass Notification Makes Moves to Manage Critical Events
Communications / Notifications Systems
32 campuslifesecurity.com | MARCH/APRIL 2022
answer has been to add solutions that address gaps in their emergency response plans, of which mass notification is an important component. However, having more tools means spending more time managing and activating them—time which campuses can’t afford to lose during a crisis. The more tools in place also increases the chance that some- one might miss a step while jumping from one tool to another. That’s why mass notifica- tion systems are looking to offer a more com- plete solution that campuses can leverage to manage emergency events.
While efficient, effective alerting is still at the core of what mass notification systems can offer campuses. New feature sets make it possible to provide a more robust response to handle complex situations as they unfold. This begins with planning. Campuses need to identify what situations may cause the most disruption or put people at greatest risk. Once that list has been created, campus leaders can begin outlining what tasks need to be done and who needs to perform them. The security team will likely have different tasks than faculty and administrative staff. Understanding each person’s role will help build a more effective emergency response plan, and with a mass notification system, those tasks can be easily assigned and auto- mated.
Text and audio messages can be created ahead of time once scenarios are identified. Using text and audio that is sent to a wide range of devices—including classroom and office phones, speakers, digital signage, desk-
top computers, and mobile devices—makes it much more likely that everyone will receive a message. Messages can be customized to be sent throughout an entire campus or to spe- cific groups. This customization means the right people will receive the right informa- tion without a delay. Messages can be created for every stage of an incident and grouped together so at the onset of an incident, all an administrator needs to do is follow the prees- tablished message templates and launch them as each step of an incident is reached. This includes initial alerts, follow-up mes- sages with further details, and “all clear” notifications to let people know normal cam- pus operations have resumed.
In addition to planning messages, campus leaders can also plan and upload resources into their mass notification system to help aid people during a crisis. This is where an emergency response plan can become more actionable by making it accessible to whoev- er needs it, whenever they need it. Assets like safety checklists, floor plans, diagrams, imag- es, and other helpful resources can all be uploaded and then accessed remotely via a computer or mobile device. This provides greater flexibility for deploying a response and shortening response times, since people are able to access what they need quickly.
Campus leaders can also consider how alerts will be initiated. Mass notification sys- tems have long been used because of their ability to integrate with existing technology on campus to trigger and receive critical alerts. Manual triggers like panic buttons,