Historic GW University Rolling Out Security Messaging System

George Washington University is deploying GW Alert, a system based on ActiveAccess from BIA Information Network, a private label campus security application installed on student, staff and faculty computers to alert students to campus safety events.

Should a crisis occur, campus police can use GW Alert to place text messages that crawl across the bottom of the screens of campus PCs to inform users about the emergency situation, as well as graphical messages that can provide detailed instructions and web links for help.

Besides emergency messages, GW Alert can display daily temperature and weather information and provide access to the GW New Center, the GW RSS News Feed, and campus phone numbers and safety resources.

The small, downloadable app automatically connects to the Internet to get its information, which typically consumes less bandwidth than a single Web page. When not use, GW Alert is simply minimized as a toolbar icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

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About the Author

David Kopf is a freelance technology writer and marketing consultant, and can be reached at [email protected].

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