EDUCAUSE | EDUCAUSE CONNECT - Text Messaging as Emergency Communication Superstar? Nt so gr8. - Comments

GR8 Article

ekunnen — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:50:23 -0500

I too enjoyed this article, especially the multi-channel delivery of crisis messages. Depending on the crisis, or emergency, one type of mechanism may be better than another. Also, when cellular connections aren't the best, or the network is saturated with voice traffic, text messaging often still works.

I will say the title of the article seems to point to not using text messaging at all, but I was happy to see that in the end, text messaging is seen as having a value add in a comprehensive plan. Yes, true, no communication method is 100%.

NTI Group (now Blackboard) offers a robust text messaging, voice, and communication platform as well. See: http://www.blackboardconnect.com/

In addition, let's not forget that text messaging is not only valuable in crisis situations, it is also helpful in academic situations such as faculty student communications... or even such things as faculty absences announcements.

U R right about multimodal communication

bryancrum — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:24:33 -0500

I agree with you completely Mr. Latimer regarding the need for multimodal communication! A campus environment is made up of many types of people:

students prefer SMS text messages
faculty teaching in class prefer to hear the PA System
staff working at their desk prefer email, phone calls, or desktop alerts
visitors prefer an outdoor loudspeaker, digital sign or scrolling LED display

However, your reasons for SMS not being a superstar are somewhat misleading. First of all, not all emergency notification systems (ENS) are created equal. For instance, e2Campus uses 4 concurrent SMS delivery mechanisms simultaneously: minimum of two (2) Tier-1 SMS aggregators for the majority of carriers, SMTP delivery for smaller carriers, and direct connections to other wireless carriers. This is just the SMS delivery. We also send alerts on redundant systems via voice, email, RSS, Javascript, and XML to outdoor loudspeakers, indoor PA systems, scrolling LED displays, LCD digital signage, VoIP phones, web pages, wireless alert beacons, and more.

Therefore, just because one school here or another school there has a failure with SMS does not mean other solutions will experience the similar fates – especially sophisticated, fully redundant solutions like e2Campus.

More to come…

Text Messaging as Emergency Communication Superstar? Nt so gr8.

elilly — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:30:32 -0500

The popularity of SMS messaging among the college-age demographic, as well as its perceived speed of delivery and ease of use, have led some campus planners to view SMS messaging as the superstar player in an emergency notification strategy. But rapid is not the same as reliable, and ease of use doesn’t equate with robust.