BLACKSBURG, Va., --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- June 21, 2007 -- Virginia Tech has reached an agreement with 3n (National Notification Network) that will significantly expand the university's ability to send critical news and information to the university community during campus emergencies.
The new emergency notification system, along with existing communications vehicles long used by the university, will form the basis of “VT Alerts,” a fully integrated and coordinated emergency communications program maintained by Virginia Tech’s Office of University Relations.
The expanded VT Alerts system will debut July 2; students, faculty, and staff will be able to sign up for several new 3n-enabled emergency notification options beginning that day. The expanded VT Alerts system will be fully operational by Aug. 20, the first day of fall classes.
3n's technology will enable the university to send messages to students, faculty, and staff using methods and media not maintained by the university, such as text messages to personal cell phones, instant messages via systems maintained by America Online (AOL), Yahoo, or MSN, and phone calls and e-mails to numbers and mailboxes that reside outside the university's network.
In addition, the system will allow subscribers to list contacts for parents, spouses, or other individuals among their contact preferences.
Currently, the university has several communications tools to reach students, faculty, and staff, including the heavily used university homepage, the Virginia Tech News website, broadcast e-mail alerts, broadcast voice-mail messages, a recorded emergency hotline (231-6668), the university switchboard, and a coordinated use of public media outlets.
"We began the process of adding to and enhancing our already robust emergency notification system last fall, and we were in the final stages of selecting a vendor when the tragic events of April 16 occurred,” said Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations. “The 3n InstaCom Campus Alert system is a sophisticated tool that is easy to use. I believe it can only further benefit our students, faculty, and staff.”
About Virginaia Tech
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
