Binghamton University has adopted a new emergency alert system as part of a SUNY-wide crisis preparation effort.
The SUNY NY-Alert system will notify students and faculty of emergencies such as natural disasters. Messages will come directly from campus, although SUNY has the ability to send a state-wide alert to all participating campuses.
Such a message would be received by over 165,000 participants at 57 SUNY campuses, said David Henahan, a SUNY spokesman.
At BU, SUNY NY-Alert is replacing a similar, privately operated system that was used on campus last year. Students who were signed up for emergency notifications last semester will not have their information transferred. Anyone interested in the program must register their information through the Banner Web site.
SUNY NY-Alert allows students to register up to three voice mail numbers, three text message numbers, two e-mail addresses and one fax number on which they will be sent emergency messages.
According to David Hubeny, the University’s emergency manager, the change occurred primarily for financial reasons.
“The system is operated by New York state at no cost to the University,” he said.
The new system requires no new technology or equipment, so BU was able to implement the system immediately.
“There were no new costs except the extra time that the ITS [Information Technology Services] people spent registering people on the Banner system, so it saved us money,” Hubeny said.
As of Wednesday morning, 1,884 Binghamton University students and faculty members had registered to receive the alerts.
Hubeny encourages users to choose multiple methods of notification, if possible.
“We recognize our limitations on any technology,” he said.
Due to the large variety of text message providers, there is no way to verify if a text message is received. If users choose to receive voice or fax messages in addition to texts, there is a greater chance they will be alerted in a timely fashion.
The alert messages are only one facet of the emergency response system on campus. Several other measures are in place, including a browser re-direct, which would direct all campus computers to a Web site notifying the user of an emergency situation.
BU has also added an outdoor siren that would sound in the event of an emergency. Although the siren is fully functional, no one has been trained how to operate and respond to it yet.
“We are trying to plan a large-scale exercise that incorporates all of these,” Hubeny said.
A mass test should be expected sometime within the next semester.