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Longwood giving away iPods to students signing up for emergency text messaging system
Longwood University students who sign up for the emergency text messaging system will not only be safer. They might also win an iPod.
 Recent Ipod winners (from first drawing) Monica Keane, Russ Farmer and Jill Bodling. Not pictured: Todd Stonnell and Whitney Tripp |
Five students from among those who enrolled in the system during fall registration are now the owners of 4-gigabyte iPod nanos, thanks to a recent drawing.
Students as well as faculty and staff can sign up for the text messaging system, called Alert Longwood, by visiting http://alert.longwood.edu. Also, an emergency communications web site is now available to provide quick access to information regarding our emergency notification system and other pertinent information during an incident. This web site can be found at http://www.longwood.edu/crisiscomm
“About 2,200 students have signed up, which is approximately 50 percent of the student body,” said Dan Dillon, Longwood’s director of environmental health and safety and emergency management. “This puts us above nearly every other college and university in the state; most are seeing a signup rate of about 20 to 30 percent. Still, we’re not satisfied. We hope we can sign up 80 to 90 percent of students.”
“It takes only about three minutes to sign up. You have to provide your name, cell phone number, cell phone provider and e-mail address.” The emergency text service is absolutely free, though your individual cell phone plan may charge a fee for text messages.
“This system will be used only for emergencies. The system will not be used as a mode of communication for the university. We will test the system once a semester, and hopefully students will not receive another message from us for the rest of the semester. We have a way to make sure the system works without sending out messages.”
In the text messaging system, provided by a company called Roam Secure, students will receive a text message on their cell phone and an email to their Longwood e-mail account. “The text message will be any of several pre-scripted messages sent from the dispatch office of the Longwood Police Department,” Dillon said. “The message will be tailored to that situation; for example, the instructions will be different depending on whether it’s an active shooter or a tornado or a hurricane.”
Roam Secure was chosen, he said, because it is “a national company with two servers – one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast – which would provide system redundancy if there’s a regional disaster and one of them goes down.”
Longwood is working with another provider, Honeywell Instant Alert, to provide emergency voice messaging as well. “The Town of Farmville already uses this system and is allowing us to partner with them,” Dillon said. “Faculty and staff can designate that the voice message go to their office, cell or home phone.”
Also as part of its emergency communication system, Longwood has installed six sirens at various on-campus and off-campus locations. In case of an emergency, the sirens will be activated, followed by a voice message tailored to the situation.
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure a state of readiness,” Dillon said of Longwood’s emergency communication plans. “We’re trying to offer the best protection.