University of New Hampshire launches alert network
More and more schools and colleges install alert notification systems which allow for quick and reliable dissemination of alerts through different media; University of New Hampshire install a system from Cooper Notification; the system has three interesting features: Alumni and parents of students can join the network; the system allows for exchanging information with local law enforcement authorities; the system is connected to a nationwide information exchange network
The painful lessons of Virginia Tech are being learnt. Cooper Notification, a platform of Cooper Industries, that the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has launched its Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN) for emergency notification. Campus public safety officials can now quickly send targeted alerts via email, text messaging, and other channels to students, faculty, and staff. Parents of students, alumni, and friends of the university can also sign up for the system, called UNH Alert. The University of New Hampshire in Durham, New ampshire, has more than 13,000 students and more than 100,000 living alumni. The University of New Hampshire follows other universities across the country using RSAN for emergency notification — among them Villanova University in Pennsylvania, George Mason University in Virginia, and the University of Southern California.
“Colleges and universities are facing an ever-increasing amount of natural and man-made emergencies,” said Paul Dean, UNH deputy police chief and emergency operations coordinator. “Having transparency with the community allows for better management of emergencies and is part of a best-practices plan for any campus.”
Cooper says that more than 170 RSAN systems are currently operating across the United States at local, state, and federal government agencies, schools, hospitals, refineries, and other key businesses. Cooper Notification’s patent-pending Roam Secure Information Exchange (RSIX) enables the University of New Hampshire to connect with RSAN systems at other schools and in several metropolitan areas around the country, including the Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and San Francisco areas. UNH is thus part of the growing national emergency information exchange and can choose to receive and share emergency information with other schools and cities using RSAN free of charge.
