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.