Information is Power
Layered mass notification systems bring knowledge to those most in need
- By Samuel Shanes
- Feb 14, 2008
When an incident occurs on
campus, the main obstacle
is bridging the gap
between those who have
information concerning the event and those
who need to know. Two examples can be
used to analyze this problem.
For example, someone working on campus—
a student, a faculty member, a staff
member—is robbed. In this case, the victim
is in control of the information regarding
the attack. Finding the robber, and perhaps
preventing other robberies, requires a
mechanism for the student to quickly transfer
knowledge to the proper authorities.
In the second example, campus security
officials know about an event happening in
one part of campus that endangers other
parts. In this case, it is the security officials
who require an efficient method for mass
notification. Recent school shootings sadly
provide a vivid, real-life example of this
type of event. Having a method that can
efficiently spread the correct information
to those who desperately need it is integral
to campus security.
Communication is Key
Security solutions are needed to bridge the
information gap between both parties,
regardless of where the information originates.
Failure to prepare for both of these
types of events can leave a facility in the
lurch should an emergency occur.
Emergency phones, located throughout
a campus, can provide a quick way to notify
campus security. They can be situated in
a variety of mounts, such as highly visible
towers or within wall mounts, both with
integrated blue lights or strobes. This variety
allows each campus to have a customized
security solution to meet specific
needs. These solutions also can be augmented
with CCTV cameras for additional
security measures.
However, emergency phones alone can
only solve half of the problem. As recent
mass emergencies indicate, campus security
also requires a method for communicating
with the campus at large should disaster
strike. While there is no magic bullet to
solve this problem, two security solutions
have solidified their place in campus security’s
arsenal. These are reverse 911 systems
and broadcast audio for both indoor
and outdoor use.
Mass Messages
While reverse 911 notification systems go
by different names depending on the
provider, they all share a common working
premise. When an emergency occurs, security
officials send automated phone or email
messages to those who have signed up
for the service. It is a cost-effective method
for reaching a large amount of people.
Reverse 911 systems have a logical
appeal as an inexpensive element of a complete
mass notification system. However,
they have some drawbacks and limitations,
despite the provider’s ability to push out a
large number of messages in a short period.
For instance, reverse 911 sends the
same message to every recipient, regardless
of where he or she is located at the
time of an emergency. This is problematic
since the action recommended may be
location-specific.
Also, a phone call can be missed too
easily. Some locations, like classrooms,
require that students either turn off their
phones or not use them while inside. The
system also relies on people to sign up for
it. If they do not, or if there are visitors on
campus, they may not be notified that an
emergency is happening.
Consider that if a reverse 911 call is
made to a cell phone, campuses run the risk
of calls going unheard when people invariably
forget their phones at home that day.
Furthermore, a deep sleep might derail the
method’s effectiveness if calls are made late
at night, which might be the case during a
weather emergency. Similarly, while emergency
e-mails may be able to reach a sizable
number of people, they will miss those who
are out of reach of their computers. These
people may potentially walk right into a
dangerous situation without knowing it.
Back to the Future
Fortunately, phone calls and e-mails are not
the only mass notification methods available
to campuses or other facilities. Mass notification
systems also can take a more familiar
shape—by augmenting emergency phones
with high-powered speaker systems. This
type of mass notification system can be
decoupled from emergency phones, as well,
where only paging is required. Loyola
University of Chicago exemplifies this layered
approach to mass notification in an
urban campus environment.
As one part of its emergency preparations,
Loyola has instituted a reverse 911
system in which emergency messages are
sent out to students.
“We use voicemail and e-mail to send
out alerts, as well as message boards,” said
Loyola’s director of environmental services,
Bill Curtin.
However, Loyola recognizes that while
these systems have great benefits, they also
have limitations that require redundancy to
be built into the system.
To meet this need, Loyola has selected
Talk-A-Phone Co.’s Wide-Area Emergency
Broadcast System for the campus. With
WEBS, security officials can broadcast
information to the campus at large or to specific
areas as needed. These broadcasts can
be made remotely or on the scene through
one of the emergency phone installations. The ability to broadcast from a variety of locations
gives security officials even greater flexibility
in their response to an emergency.
The goal, Curtin said, is to provide a way to
send emergency information campus-wide to
the people who are outside and unlikely to
receive it any other way. This is an apt fear and
a good reason to build a mass notification system
with multiple layers of support.
The wildfires that threatened San Diego
recently brought national attention to the benefits
of reverse 911, as stories spread about how
citizens were evacuated in the nick of time
thanks to emergency calls they received.
However, that event also demonstrated the
limitations of these systems. While the reverse
911 system reached many of the residents in
harm’s way, it also missed some residents, as
Allison Hoffman of the Associated Press
reported in an article titled “Wildfire victims
criticize ‘reverse 911.’” Reverse 911 faced
several problems in the case of these unfortunate
residents. Some received their calls too
late. Others missed them completely due to
lack of power or downed phone lines. Some
calls were blocked by the residents’ phones.
Another complication was the time it took to
actually make the calls. Even though they are
automated, Hoffman reported that two hours
were needed to complete the emergency calls.
In light of these issues, it is clear that this
type of emergency notification, while useful,
can still leave significant gaps that need to be
addressed. The WEBS units that Loyola is in the
process of installing will help fill in these types
of gaps by providing a notification method that
is not easily ignored. Should an emergency
occur, loud messages can be transmitted instantly
to selected areas of the campus, or to all units.
And, while a phone call can be slept through,
the same cannot be said of a blaring message
pumped through high-powered speakers.
“Sirens were phased out a long time ago
because people didn’t want them in their
neighborhoods. They were loud, but they did
exactly what they were supposed to do,” said
former San Diego Fire Chief Jeff Bowman to
the Associate Press.
The Emergency Connection
Loyola’s mass notification system will be
built upon an existing network of emergency
phones. The school’s emergency phones are in
a variety of locations, including exterior walkways,
residence hall entrances and in the
buildings themselves. They are primarily used
for personal safety and reporting emergencies,
such as requests for medical assistance.
One of the advantages that led to Curtin’s
installation of emergency phones at Loyola
was ease of use and reliability. A previous
model at Loyola was beginning to break
down. Campus officials wanted an exterior
phone that did not have to be enclosed in a
box—which required the user to open the box
before accessing the phone. Emergency
phones have accomplished their mission and
have served the campus well, as there have
been some incidents in which the phones were
used to report a crime and, on other occasions,
to request medical assistance for an injury. In
addition, they can be used for more mundane
functions, such as access control.
Strobe lights are an added benefit of the
phones installed at Loyola. They
are constantly lit, and lights will begin
to flash when the emergency button
is pressed.
“The bright blue lights give people a sense
of safety in knowing that assistance is always
close by with a simple push of the button,”
Curtin said. “Because of the reliability of the
product and the psychological benefit of
knowing that security is close by, the phones
have been very well-received by all of the students,
staff and faculty.”
Although there is no single solution for
mass notification purposes, reverse 911 is
cost-efficient and can reach a sizable amount
of people. But, the system can have service
gaps, as phone calls can be missed due to a
variety of reasons. It also sends a common
message to a large population—regardless of
where they are at the time of the emergency.
Emergency paging systems allow security
officials to broadcast appropriate loud messages
to those in harm’s way and different
messages to those outside the immediate
danger area. And, when they are connected to
emergency phones, these systems also can
broach a dangerous information gap by allowing
students and staff to contact security.
The installation of both systems assists in
being able to provide information to
all affected members of the campus
community as quickly as possible.
Redundancy may be boring in the classroom,
but it can save lives outside
of it.