Web-based Notification Service Gives College Fast, Reliable Way to Reach Students, Faculty and Staff
MINNEAPOLIS --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 14, 2007 - Honeywell today announced that Bridgewater State College in southeast Massachusetts has selected Instant Alert® Plus to deliver critical news and direction to students, faculty and staff in an emergency.
A new, Web-based notification service, Instant Alert Plus gives administrators the ability to reach people on and off campus with a clear, consistent message. The service broadcasts information to any communications device -- phone, cell phone, pager, email or PDA. It can send 100,000 30-second phone calls and 125,000 text messages in 15 minutes.
"Our staff and students prefer to receive information in different ways to suit their lifestyles and preferences," said Pat Cronin, associate vice president, Department of Technology, Systems and Networking, Bridgewater State College. "It may be easier to reach students with a text message, while a phone call may be more effective for faculty. Instant Alert Plus allows us to immediately reach people in whatever way they choose."
Recognized as a leader in adopting new, innovative technology, Bridgewater State College currently uses two Web sites to alert the media, students, faculty and staff of any emergency situations -- its main Web site and a special emergency notification site housed off campus and updated by administrators. The college decided it needed a more proactive and effective emergency notification system, particularly for pandemic planning purposes.
In the event of a pandemic or other crisis, Bridgewater State can now reach its key publics quickly and directly. To activate an alert, administrators only need to place a phone call or type a message on a computer with an Internet connection. In addition, the college can pre-record messages as part of its emergency planning, which allows an almost immediate response in a variety of situations.
Instant Alert Plus uses a series of distributed, redundant call center networks to disseminate information. As a result, it is one of the most reliable means of emergency communication. And along with broadcasting news, the service can send customized messages to an unlimited number of subgroups, such as emergency responders or the board of trustees. The real-time reporting feature provides college personnel easy-to-read, Web-based reports that show who has and has not received a particular alert.
The service also has a two-way communication function that allows the college to poll and get feedback from employees or students. Other features include the ability to automatically bridge message recipients into a conference call, and send attachments with text-based messages to provide more detailed information and instructions.
"Time is the enemy in a crisis so getting accurate information to people fast is crucial," said Mike Taylor, vice president of Americas marketing for Honeywell Building Solutions. "Instant Alert Plus delivers a consistent message with a definitive course of action in minutes. The service helps users like Bridgewater State College manage the situation instead of the phone lines."
Created for municipalities, colleges and universities, and healthcare and industrial facilities, Instant Alert Plus is an extension of Instant Alert for Schools, a notification service that helps K-12 school districts improve communication and emergency preparedness. More than 1,500 schools nationwide use Instant Alert to connect with parents and guardians.
For more information about Honeywell Instant Alert Plus, call 800-345-6770 ext. 601 or visit www.honeywell.com/instantalert.
Honeywell Upgrades Emergency Notification System for Bridgewater State College
