For Universities and Colleges
Save lives through targeted warning and evacuation down to the building
and floor with a system that can be installed in a few
days starting at $10k
Network Applications
... for the Campus
Universities and colleges are often spread out and unsecured with frequent false alarms and real student safety concerns.
The recent tragic shootings have highlighted the difficulty law enforcement faces when deciding if a threat warrants a major campus-wide alert. Without a targeted multi-priority system, they may be faced with a difficult choice - do too much or not enough. They could Email the students but Email systems work well only when students are at their computers and cellular messaging can be slow and prone to overload during a crisis.
Traditional siren infrastructure is expensive to build and maintain, and is of limited use since it does not inform. Non targeted siren alarms can also tax law enforcement with unnecessary calls from people who are concerned but not threatened.
Reverse 911 seems a good way to get targeted messages to people but enough lines to call everyone quickly can be expensive and as every telemarketer knows, many calls just go to answering machines. Can you afford to wait even 15 minutes for everyone to be called?
Our Warning System ...
... is Fast, Effective and Simple to Use - messages are delivered in seconds!
Our network uses a specially designed clock radio to wake people up and send them messages that they can read on the display. As a fully functional clock radio, it will be accepted and USED by students - not unplugged and forgotten. As the system owner, you choose what to send, to which group of radios and at what level of urgency over a simple web interface to our server.
The viaRadio Emergency & Public Messaging System consists of viaRadio radio station equipment and the receivers (clock radios) themselves. The radio station equipment can be sited at your schools FM radio station or other local station. The radio station may cover the entire area, well beyond the main campus.
The system is easy to set up and affordable with systems starting at only $10K.
Since our system is natively multi-priority, it can also be used for targeted non-emergency campus messaging, making the system even more cost effective and more desirable to the students by providing useful targeted and specific day-to-day information about classes and activities that they want to be notified about.
Scenario 1
It is 4am and there is a fire alarm in Chemistry 1 - possible toxic fumes.
Action
Send an urgent message to group 7 radios - Local Hazmat team with the chemical type codes
Send an urgent message to all of Chemistry 1 to evacuate the building via the North exit - into the wind and away from the fumes.
Send another urgent message to Dorms 1 & 2 telling students to stay inside and close all doors and windows until the danger has passed.
Scenario 2
There has been a serious assault on the campus - suspect still at large.
Action
You issue a campus wide informational alert - "be on the lookout for etc"
If lives are in danger, students and staff can be told what to do with specific messages to each building - lockdown or evacuate - again in mere seconds.
Scenario 3
Parking lot 4 will be closed all week for resurfacing.
Action
You issue a students-only silent message at 6am every morning to remind them where they should park. " Lot 4 still closed - please park on the grass next to Building 7. Green permit is still required"
How it works
You log on to a special website to compose and direct your messages. These warning messages are then sent to the hosting broadcast FM station(s) and transmitted using the Radio Data System (RDS) channel. The infrastructure is already there and the high power and coverage of FM make it ideal for reliable distribution of such warnings. RDS is used worldwide and is a very robust data channel.
The Receiver
The RDS Early Warning Receiver looks and acts like a normal FM clock radio until it is triggered. Then it loudly announces your message and scrolls it across the screen for all to read.
It is equipped with two tuners. One is for the clock radio - the second tuner locks to the hosting station and listens to the RDS-emergency-channel continuously - even if the radio is "off". The clock is kept updated by the network so it is extremely accurate.
This commercial quality receiver is equipped with a rechargeable backup battery so it will alert many hours after power is lost. The receiver is designed to reach everybody, and it is loud enough to alert everyone even if they are not in the same room.
There is also an enhanced "professional" version with even more features for first responders and the disabled.
Additionally, external devices like large-scale displays (billboards), lamps, flashing lights, etc may be hooked up to the Professional version triggered by relay or its serial interface.