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Campus Safety
Emergency Notification: Penn State Stays on Message
11/15/2007
Pricing was also highly competitive, Mountz said. While she couldn't divulge what Penn State is paying for its system, and a variety of pricing structures are available from the company, e2Campus said pricing is generally about a dollar per user per year, varying based on school size and number of subscribers.
Mountz uses a Web interface to manage the text messaging system, called PSUTXT. She worked with each campus to designate at least two people per campus who are empowered to send emergency text messages via the e2Campus system; it's generally the top communication person along with the chancellor. "The guideline I gave them," Mountz said, "is this: Who's in the room when there's an emergency? And who would be responsible for getting information out to the public?"
Finally, she advised, text messaging is just a piece of the emergency notification system puzzle. "It's not the be all and end all of communication tools," Mountz said. "Just as you shouldn't rely [exclusively] on any other tool, it should be integrated in your communication plan."
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Linda L. Briggs is a freelance writer based in San Diego, Calif.
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