64,000-Student University to Rely on 3n to Ensure the Safety of Campuses.
All State of Missouri Agencies Eligible for Emergency Notification Services Under State-Wide Contract.
GLENDALE, CA--[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- September 24, 2007 – 3n (National Notification Network), a mass notification system provider, today announced that the University of Missouri’s four campuses will expand their emergency notification capabilities using 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert.
The University and 3n announced Monday that the 3n InstaCom Campus Alert system has been selected to automate emergency communications with students, faculty, staff and administration on the UM campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. Under a three-year contract, the 3n system will be installed during the coming weeks.
Using 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert system, the University of Missouri plans to communicate during emergencies using a variety of modes of communication, including phone, e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, pager, fax and BlackBerry devices.
The system is planned to allow rapid communication with an array of devices on or off campuses, expanding the University’s capacity in delivering quick and reliable crisis notifications to the entire UM community or to targeted audiences on a specific campus.
“The University of Missouri is committed to providing a safe and secure environment to learn, live and work,” said Dr. Gordon H. Lamb, Interim President of the University of Missouri. “By partnering with 3n for its mass notification services, the University builds on that commitment in a significant and strategic way. This will help us to quickly and efficiently communicate with our students, faculty, staff and others using an array of technologies.”
Prior to selecting 3n, the University of Missouri relied heavily on phone trees, voice messages and e-mail, which may not reach all necessary audiences with the appropriate messages in a timely manner.
With about 64,000 students plus thousands of faculty and staff spread statewide across four campuses, the University of Missouri’s crisis notification and communications needs are far-reaching and complex. The University needed the capacity to issue event-based alerts tailored to specific, targeted audiences as well as the ability to communicate rapidly across a single campus or system-wide for large-scale emergencies.
The University identified several key criteria in its notification system selection process: ease of use; ability to integrate with existing systems; guaranteed infrastructure security and reliability; and ability to address challenges specific to a campus environment, including delivering messages using student-friendly contact paths, such as instant messaging and true two-way Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging.
About the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri is the state’s land-grant, research and doctoral-granting public higher education system, with campuses at Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. The University was founded in 1839 as the first public university west of the Mississippi River and the first state University in Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase territory. For more information, log onto the University of Missouri System homepage at www.umsystem.edu
Source: Vendor Press Release
