Though the April 16 tragedy at Virginia Tech made all universities recognize the pressing need for emergency communication systems, the executive vice president's office at Boston College has been shopping for mass communication technology for more than a year.
Executive Vice President Patrick Keating said that representatives from Motorola have been at BC examining communications strategies for emergency situations. The University is seeking a vendor that could provide a mass text-messaging service in a possible crisis, a technology that Keating says already exists.
"We learned from Virginia Tech that while e-mail and the Web are important, they are not the [ideal communication systems]," said Keating.
At Virginia Tech, students received e-mail alerts two hours after the first incident took place; however, many off-campus residents did not receive the messages because they were still on their way to campus.
While most BC students do live on campus, e-mail is an insufficient way to communicate with students in emergency situations.
In the case of a campus emergency, the Office of Public Affairs would send a message to all students alerting them to stay in buildings or not to leave their dorms.
According to Information Technology Services, "Many students use Gmail or do not check their BC e-mail," said University Spokesperson Jack Dunn.
"We're evaluating different systems for faculty and administrators. Most don't use their cell phones like students do," said Keating. He said that many administrators carry Blackberry devices and that faculty would be better alerted using an e-mail system.
"What we're most concerned about is gathering student cell phone numbers. We have some but we are going to ask students to voluntarily provide them via Agora starting this week," said Keating. "We strongly recommend that students register their cell phone numbers to enable us to communicate with them in the event of an emergency."
Incoming freshmen will be asked for their cell phone numbers at orientation. The remaining students will enter their cell phone numbers on Agora, where they will be kept confidential.
"We will not use it for advertisements or any other University business, but rather just to alert students in case of an emergency," said Keating.
The University is also evaluating its internal communications systems for essential faculty and administrators.
Satellite phones will play an integral role in communication among top administrators, said Keating. The phones do not use land cellular towers and can function even during catastrophic infrastructure failure, providing communication for contingency planning.
Priority cell phone designations may also be purchased for other essential administrators and the police force. The University could pay a vendor to have priority line considerations during overload times, which would provide a higher probability of a dial tone to essential personnel. Radio technologies are also being evaluated.
While sirens and loudspeakers can't penetrate building walls effectively in all situations, the University is looking into installing loudspeakers on certain buildings on campus.
"No one mechanism is effective. A series of possibilities and alternatives are needed."
Keating hopes to have a vendor selected for the text messaging service by the summer. n
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