Cooper Notification Updates Alerts with Mobile App and Location Service

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 01/18/12

Cooper Notification has updated its mass alert system with a GPS locator feature, a mobile app, and the addition of transaction logging and single sign-on. Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN) allows a campus to use a single web page to send emergency or other notifications to all subscribers that can reach them in multiple modes: phone, text and SMS messages, email, fax, pagers, desktop computer, web postings, digital signage, public address speakers, and cable TV.

The recently released version 6.6 exploits location-based services specifically to alert people who are in a "crisis" area by using GPS-reporting technology in smartphones. According to the company, those who are registered with a location-based service provider can allow the Roam Secure service to retrieve and display their latest location on maps available to authorized users. When senders select a geographic area where the last reported location falls, the user will receive the alert. The idea is allow the Roam administrator to launch a two-way alert to find out if those individuals are safe or need help and to identify the public safety personnel who are closest to the emergency to direct their responses.

The RSAN Mobile app is a tool that allows the Roam administrator to launch alerts from Blackberry or Android devices. The company said an iPhone version would be made available in a later release of the service. Users who are qualified to use the mobile editions will be sent links; those apps don't show up in a public search of the Blackberry or Android markets.

The latest release also includes transaction logging. On the admin reports tab, user can track operations such as create, edit, delete, and login, against "objects," such as user, user permissions, alert categories, delivery channels, or information exchange model.  The administrator can also set up notification "triggers" when predefined events occur, such as login, change user level, or add user.

The service now allows for customized taglines for different types of alerts from a single system, including weather, crime, emergency, and traffic messages.

Other features new to this version include:

• Single sign-on to expedite login to emergency tools;
• Voice authentication by which the user enters a PIN to hear the alert;
• Added privilege options for system roles; and
• Added support for Google Translate version 2.

"As part of our continuing efforts to provide innovative life safety and mass notification technologies, we developed RSAN 6.6 with a mobile application to activate alerts anytime, anywhere and location-based services to help reduce the time it takes to locate and notify individuals," said Scott Hearn, president of Cooper Notification.