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20 Institutions Sign On for Alert Services

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/26/09

Howard University in Washington, DC, Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, MN, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, AR, and 17 other institutions have signed on to become Rave Wireless clients. The services offered by Rave provide campus safety notification mechanisms. Rave Alert offers multiple ways to notify large numbers of subscribers about an emergency. Rave Guardian allows the user to set a one-touch panic button on his or her cell phone. Likewise, the user can activate a precautionary timer on the cell phone before walking across campus, and then deactivate it when the destination is reached. If the timer expires, campus security will call the user to make sure he or she is OK.

"With a campus community of more than 15,000, efficient emergency communications and advanced personal safety tools are paramount to Howard University," said Chief of Police Lee James. "Rave Wireless' Guardian and multi-modal alerting provide us with broader safety benefits that are easier to deploy and more reliable than technologies used in the past."

"Howard University is located in one of the most dynamic cities in the world, Washington, DC, which presents unparalleled experiences and opportunities--as well as challenges unique to our urban setting," added Bryan Smart, president of the Howard U Student Association. "We are enthused by the partnership that has been developed with Howard and Rave, and we look forward to the enhancement of the state-of-the-art safety mechanisms, affording us greater peace-of-mind."

Gustavus Adolphus College sought a service that would put delivery of messages to mobile devices at the center of its notification plans. "We believe that cell phones can be powerful tools for both broadcast messaging and personal safety," said Ray Thrower, campus safety director. "We selected Rave Wireless not only for its powerful multi-modal alerting solution, but also because we can easily and seamlessly add ... Rave Guardian."

Henderson State University also considers mobile devices the most effective way to reach students, faculty, and staff during an emergency, according to President Charles L. Welch. "With Rave Wireless, we now have the capability to distribute emergency messages in a matter of seconds to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, regardless of where everyone is at the time. Every second counts in life-threatening situations and we believe this system will greatly enhance the safety of our campus community."

In addition to Henderson, schools expecting to launch Rave Alert systems in the fall include Kansas State University in Manhattan and Northwest State Community College in Archbold, OH.