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AT&T Intros Campus Messenger Service

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 04/21/11

AT&T is amplifying its voice in the higher education realm with the launch of Rave Campus Messenger, a Web-based service developed by Rave Mobile Safety. Rave Mobile sells a similar solution under the name Rave Alert and targets the service at emergency notifications. AT&T's marketing emphasizes more mundane but common types of notifications: wait-listing, financial aid, grade posting, and alumni outreach.

The idea behind the service is to provide a means for the campus community to send messages to and from a variety of devices in a simple and cost-effective manner. Notifications can be done via an administrator's cell phone, PC, or 24/7 hotline.

This news follows on the 2009 introduction of Rave Guardian by AT&T and Rave Mobile Safety. That service allows a user to turn a mobile phone into a personal safety device.

Users select how they prefer to be contacted for notifications and alerts. The current choices include text, RSS, e-mail, signage, voice, twitter, Facebook, and public address system.

Beyond messaging, institutions offering the service can also use polling, reporting, and response features to monitor the status of notifications and engage people in interactive, digital dialogs. The application also integrates with learning management systems to allow users in a course to receive messages when new materials are posted to course pages.

"Colleges and universities today are highly mobile, with students toting laptops, Smartphones, tablets, and other devices around campus," said Chris Hill, AT&T's vice president of Advanced Mobility Solutions. "Rave Campus Messenger from AT&T helps schools to embrace the mobile campus. Through a simple, Web-based interface, users can send notifications that reach people where and when they want to be reached--on their favorite devices, right away."