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Emergency Notification for a Mobile Community

Emergency Notification for a Mobile Community. EDUCAUSE Live! May 3, 2007 Mark Katsouros (mark-katsouros@uiowa.edu) Telecommunication & Network Services The University of Iowa

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Emergency Notification for a Mobile Community

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  1. Emergency Notificationfor a Mobile Community EDUCAUSE Live!May 3, 2007 Mark Katsouros (mark-katsouros@uiowa.edu) Telecommunication & Network Services The University of Iowa Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of any other entity. EDUCAUSE Live!

  2. Recent Events • Our hearts and prayers go out to our colleagues from Virginia Tech, and to all the members of the Virginia Tech community affected by the terrible tragedy there. The U. of Iowa particularly empathizes, having had a similar incident occur on our campus in 1991 (Gang Lu). • Please note that any observations or suggestions made during this talk are not meant to "second guess" the handling of the Virginia Tech tragedy in any way. • At the same time, we know this tragic event has generated tremendous interest within higher education, particularly when it comes to concrete steps which campuses might be able to take to improve their own readiness. • One area which seems to particularly resonate at many sites is emergency notification. EDUCAUSE Live!

  3. Some Potential Notification Scenarios • Emergency • Active Shooter • Bomb Threats • Severe Weather • Hazmat • Terrorist Attacks • Non-Emergency • Class/Event/Meeting Cancellations • Important Deadline Announcements EDUCAUSE Live!

  4. Who Might be Notified • All Members of the Campus Community in a Particular Part of Campus, such as All People in a Particular Building or Quadrant • Those with Responsibility for Particular Facilities or Buildings, such as Building Managers or Resident Assistants in Residence Halls • Institutional Executive Leadership • Emergency Response Teams • Communications Staff • Students/Employees who May be at Home or in Transit(Sometimes you'd like folks who are currently off campus tosimply stay off campus until an incident has been resolved.) • Parents, Spouses, and Others who May be Worried about Family Members Going to School at the Site of an Incident • Users with Special Needs / Disabilities • Or Simply All Members of the Campus Community (and Possibly Even the Entire City / Neighboring Communities) EDUCAUSE Live!

  5. The (Potential) Challenges • Communicating with Mobile, Diverse, and Multiple Constituencies • Communicating with so Many at Once, and Quickly • Difficulty of Use / Lack of System Familiarity (Especially During an Emergency) • Establishing Policies/Procedures (Separate from the Technology) • Institutional Contact Database • Media Overload/Reliability/Timeliness • Message Delivery (Conciseness vs. Enough Information) • Costs EDUCAUSE Live!

  6. The Spectrum of Solutions • “Sirens”/Loudspeakers • Voice/Phone (Especially Cell Phones) • Text Messaging (SMS) • E-mail • Web • RSS Feeds • Pop-ups • Video/CATV • Instant Messaging • AM/FM Radio • Two-Way Radio • Emergency-/Weather-Band Radio • Fire Panel Alarms with Voice Enunciation • Public Address Systems (Including Mobile/Portable) • Digital Signage (Including Changeable Message Signs on Roads) • Word of Mouth (More Help in an Emergency Situation than One Might Realize) EDUCAUSE Live!

  7. Some Supplemental/Indirect/Convergent Technologies That (Might) Help • VoIP • IP Video • Wireless • GPS • GIS Mapping • RFID • Text-to-Speech • TTY/TDD EDUCAUSE Live!

  8. Why a Multi-Pronged Approachis Probably Necessary • Potential Media Failures/Bottlenecks • Diversity of Individual Communication Capabilities • Diversity of Individual Preferences • Diversity of Emergency Situations • Diversity of Contact Locations • Individual Disabilities EDUCAUSE Live!

  9. The Different Models in the “Electronic Message Pushing” Genre of Products Advantages Disadvantages • Local · Cost (Potentially) · Single Point of Failure · Total Control · Capacity · System Maintenance · Access to System (Potentially) • Hosted · Huge Capacity · Cost (Potentially) · No Local Equipment · Possible Data Security Issues · Access to System • Hybrid · All/Most of the Above · All/Most of the Above EDUCAUSE Live!

  10. How a Few of the Vendors Seem to Stack up(Based on Individual Research/Trials) • Reverse911 (Hybrid) • GIS Mapping • Extra/Contingent Calling Capacity via Hosted Part (Per-Call-Minute Pricing Model) • Single Point of Failure • Automated Message Delivery System (Local) • IP Video Messaging and SIP/“Presence” Support • Potential Calling Capacity Issues • Xtend’s Emergency Campus Notification (Local) • NTSC Video Support • Digital Signage Support • Potential Calling Capacity Issues • Connect-ED (Hosted) • Excellent Calling Capacity (and Unlimited Calls Pricing Model) • Seemingly Most “Multi-Pronged” • API • SMS Support • Web Access EDUCAUSE Live!

  11. Non-Emergency Uses of Those Solutions Supporting Unlimited Calls (Cost-Recovery/-Sharing Opportunities) • Opt-in Special Event Announcements/Reminders • Specific Class Announcements • Drop/Add Deadline Reminders • Bill Due Date Reminders • Athletics • Alumni • Other Student Clubs / Chat Groups • Etc. EDUCAUSE Live!

  12. Current Trial at The U. of Iowa: Connect-ED • Quickly Gotten off the Ground • Data Imports from Enterprise Directory, so Same Self-Service Portal Facilitates Maintained Contact Info • Microcosm of Multi-Pronged Concept (Voice, E-mail, and SMS Support, with More Apparently Coming) • “Unlimited calls” model naturally supports continued testing and system familiarity. • “Unlimited groups” further add to flexibility of system. • In the interest of time, considering going with such a hosted solution immediately (1st year), then possibly an RFP. • Policies still need to be developed/ratified, which is critical. EDUCAUSE Live!

  13. Additional Resources • ACUTA is compiling a collection/summary of its members’ plans, to be posted on the ACUTA website (http://www.acuta.org). • Archives of CIO@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU (http://listserv.educause.edu/archives/cio.html) • EDUCAUSE Business Continuity Management Constituent Group (http://www.educause.edu/12480) • EDUCAUSE Business Continuity Planning Resource Page (http://www.educause.edu/Browse/645?PARENT_ID=142) • Internet2 Disaster Planning and Recovery Group (http://security.internet2.edu/dr) EDUCAUSE Live!

  14. Additional Resources (cont’d.) • Joe St Sauver’s “Mass Real Time Emergency Notification” Slides from I2 (http://www.uoregon.edu/~joe/notification) • Lengthy Study Conducted in Florida (http://ec.creol.ucf.edu/FinalReport_EmergComm.pdf) • SUMMARY-Emergency Notification Systems.xls from EDUCAUSE CIO Archive (http://listserv.educause.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A3=ind0610&L=CIO&P=1881333&E=2&B=--------------070607060106030807070506&N=SUMMARY-Emergency+Notification+Systems.xls&T=application%2Fvnd.ms-excel) • Presentation planned for upcoming Joint ICS/Wireless Meeting at EDUCAUSE 2007 (http://educause.edu/ICSMeetings/12872). EDUCAUSE Live!

  15. Acknowledgement Some information was liberally borrowed from Joe St Sauver’s “Mass Real Time Emergency Notification” Slides from I2, with his kind permission. EDUCAUSE Live!

  16. Q&A EDUCAUSE Live!

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