VCU tests enhanced alert system

    An additional form of emergency notification debuted for faculty members and students Wednesday during VCU’s first test of its multi-channel alert system for the fall semester.
    Alertus notification beacons are being installed in academic buildings and residence halls on both the Monroe Park and MCV campuses to complement the school’s current emergency-notification systems that went into effect this past year. When activated, the devices emit a 107-decibel audible alert, flash strobe lights and utilize a screen that can display a message detailing what the notification is about.
    “We’ve installed those in classrooms, and today was the first test of whether it worked,” said John Bennett, VCU senior vice president for finance and administration. “They are designed so they send a signal back to the server, letting them know it’s active, but we wanted to make sure the installation was complete and up to date.”
    The Alertus devices are being installed in classrooms where 15 or more people can meet and in residence halls near the security desks. According to Bennett, 310 units have been installed as of today and a total of 350 are scheduled to be in place soon.
    “We bought 50 extra devices in case we find, along the way, that we want to install in some additional places besides where we originally targeted,” Bennett said.
    According to Bennett, the decision to install the devices was the result of concerns regarding areas of campus where cell-phone service is minimal and in rooms where faculty members require students to turn their cell phones off.
    “We had a task force that met during the last school year to review the recommendations of the Virginia Tech panel, and that’s when the issue of cell phones in classrooms really surfaced,” Bennett said. “So, rather than trying to isolate every place where (cell-phone service) is spotty and deal with individual faculty members, we figured this was just an easier way to just kill two birds with one stone.”
    Mass communications major Ariel Sierra said people outside might confuse the sirens on campus with a fire truck or other emergency vehicle, but  the Alertus systems indoors are distinctive.
    “I definitely heard it,” Sierra said. “I knew what was going on and it would be effective in a real emergency.”
    While the initial response of some students to the new devices is positive, Faris Ostrowski, a forensic-biology major, said there still might be room for improvement.
    “The new systems in the classrooms are a great start, but they still need a lot of work,” Ostrowski said. “I personally think they need a panic button or something in the classes.  They need a silent system that would let them know instantly that there is a situation and where it was happening.”
    Alertus notification beacons join the system of 10 sirens and 35 LCD screens placed on both VCU campuses. Additionally, approximately 20,000 people have signed up for text-message alerts and, according to Bennett, VCU has the capacity to send 55,000 e-mails within 30 minutes and to update the VCU Alert Web site quickly.
    “All of those things are designed to work in tandem,” Bennett said. “We knew very early on that we couldn’t devise just one channel that was going to reach everybody, which is why we have a multi-channel system.”
    VCU is one of the first universities to utilize the Alertus-brand notification beacons, which have been used on military bases.     Other universities with Alertus systems in place currently include University of Kansas Medical Center and Winthrop University.
    “In terms of emergency communications, we have about as robust an emergency-communications capacity as we can imagine,” Bennett said.