Ball State University's test of its emergency alert system Thursday yielded positive results and gave the university a chance to fix a few small problems, Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president of marketing and communications, said.
The university had two goals with the test, he said - giving the emergency response staff practice and checking any problems that may exist.
Ball State sends emergency alerts through text message, e-mail, voice mail and Web site updates. The staff ran into a few problems but still sent every message within a half hour, Proudfoot said.
All text messages were delivered within 12 and a half minutes, nearly cutting the time from the last test in half. However, Proudfoot said about 350 people didn't receive text messages and more received delayed messages because the test began about two minutes after Verizon announced a partial outage on its text message platform. He said he wasn't sure how long the outage lasted, but the delayed messages were delivered afterward.
Koboei Jensen, junior international business major, said Ball State does a pretty good job with its emergency alerts. He said the only problem with getting text alerts was that he couldn't get service in some buildings.
Successful message delivery is sometimes out of the university's control, Proudfoot said, which is why it uses four mediums to alert people.
The Web site was updated within 16 minutes, e-mails within 28 minutes and voice mails within 29 minutes.
Another minor issue the staff encountered involved the use of standardized messages to fit certain scenarios. Proudfoot said Thursday was the first time the emergency response staff used a drop down menu of messages in its publisher to save time. Two spaces in the message weren't recognized by the publisher, causing some text messages to display odd characters in those spaces and some to not be delivered.
Small problems like that are why Ball State tests the system, Proudfoot said, because the staff can fix problems and the system can be functional when real situations arises. Any problems have been fixed.
The emergency response staff has two layers of backup for each task, Proudfoot said. All three people at each position performed their task, he said. Ball State has the reserves so it can effectively send emergency alerts in any staffing situation.
Faculty and staff were told April 3 the test would be sometime the following week, he said. Faculty responsible for organizing and sending alerts received no warning before. Ball State tests its system at least once a semester, he said.
Proudfoot said the university was happy with the results. Having four mediums of delivering emergency messages would've been unheard of two years ago, he said.
"In general, we feel that we're on a good path to both having a sound, efficient, effective system," he said, "but we're continuously looking for ways to move the messages out faster."
Jensen said the text alerts are probably the best way to reach people on campus should something happen because people always have their phones on them. E-mail alerts are less effective because people aren't constantly checking their inboxes.
He said the four methods Ball State uses are good for less important incidents, but should have something else, like a siren, for more serious events. He said a way that would reach everybody would be the best. Successful message delivery is sometimes out of the university's control, Proudfoot said, which is why it uses four mediums to alert people.
The Web site was updated within 16 minutes, e-mails within 28 minutes and voice mails within 29 minutes.
Another minor issue the staff encountered involved the use of standardized messages to fit certain scenarios. Proudfoot said Thursday was the first time the emergency response staff used a drop down menu of messages in its publisher to save time. Two spaces in the message weren't recognized by the publisher, causing some text messages to display odd characters in those spaces and some to not be delivered.
Small problems like that are why Ball State tests the system, Proudfoot said, because the staff can fix problems and the system can be functional when real situations arises. Any problems have been fixed.
The emergency response staff has two layers of backup for each task, Proudfoot said. All three people at each position performed their task, he said. Ball State has the reserves so it can effectively send emergency alerts in any staffing situation.
Faculty and staff were told April 3 the test would be sometime the following week, he said. Faculty responsible for organizing and sending alerts received no warning before. Ball State tests its system at least once a semester, he said.
Proudfoot said the university was happy with the results. Having four mediums of delivering emergency messages would've been unheard of two years ago, he said.
"In general, we feel that we're on a good path to both having a sound, efficient, effective system," he said, "but we're continuously looking for ways to move the messages out faster."
Jensen said the text alerts are probably the best way to reach people on campus should something happen because people always have their phones on them. E-mail alerts are less effective because people aren't constantly checking their inboxes.
He said the four methods Ball State uses are good for less important incidents, but should have something else, like a siren, for more serious events. He said a way that would reach everybody would be the best. Successful message delivery is sometimes out of the university's control, Proudfoot said, which is why it uses four mediums to alert people.
The Web site was updated within 16 minutes, e-mails within 28 minutes and voice mails within 29 minutes.
Another minor issue the staff encountered involved the use of standardized messages to fit certain scenarios. Proudfoot said Thursday was the first time the emergency response staff used a drop down menu of messages in its publisher to save time. Two spaces in the message weren't recognized by the publisher, causing some text messages to display odd characters in those spaces and some to not be delivered.
Small problems like that are why Ball State tests the system, Proudfoot said, because the staff can fix problems and the system can be functional when real situations arises. Any problems have been fixed.
The emergency response staff has two layers of backup for each task, Proudfoot said. All three people at each position performed their task, he said. Ball State has the reserves so it can effectively send emergency alerts in any staffing situation.
Faculty and staff were told April 3 the test would be sometime the following week, he said. Faculty responsible for organizing and sending alerts received no warning before. Ball State tests its system at least once a semester, he said.
Proudfoot said the university was happy with the results. Having four mediums of delivering emergency messages would've been unheard of two years ago, he said.
"In general, we feel that we're on a good path to both having a sound, efficient, effective system," he said, "but we're continuously looking for ways to move the messages out faster."
Jensen said the text alerts are probably the best way to reach people on campus should something happen because people always have their phones on them. E-mail alerts are less effective because people aren't constantly checking their inboxes.
He said the four methods Ball State uses are good for less important incidents, but should have something else, like a siren, for more serious events. He said a way that would reach everybody would be the best.
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