University of Connecticut Swaps Emergency Notification Systems

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 10/23/08

The University of Connecticut (UConn) selected Rave Wireless' Rave Alert as its emergency notification platform after conducting an evaluation and comparison of vendors. Concerns about the performance and reliability of its previous emergency notification provider, a Connecticut state-approved provider, prompted UConn to conduct the competitive evaluation.

Rave Alert's service allows schools to send emergency notification and other announcements via text messages, e-mail, RSS feeds, recorded voice messages, and other methods such as digital signage and instant messaging. The messages can be created and sent from a Web console, which also provides reporting on message delivery and performance.

In a test of the Rave Alert system at UConn, a broadcast text message was sent to 16,500 recipients whose mobile phone numbers had been opted in and bulk uploaded into the system. A target benchmark was established for 95 percent of recipients to receive the message within 15 minutes. According to a statement, the university said test results exceeded benchmarks.

Other Rave Alert customers include American University in Washington, DC, Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, and Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently deployed the Rave Guardian personal mobile alarm system on campus.