Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
Miami Dade College Signs on with County-wide Emergency Alert System
2/11/2008
Miami Dade College (MDC) is enhancing its emergency communication on campus by joining the Miami-Dade County network implementation of WENS, the wireless emergency notification system run by Inspiron Logistics.Currently, MDC uses a number of resources, such as hotlines, the Web, voicemail, the media, and press releases to notify its community of a college emergency. The new program, Miami Dade College Alerts, adds the capability for the school to notify registered users through text messaging, personal e-mail, and pagers.
"Miami Dade College is continually looking for ways to enhance its capability to communicate quickly and effectively in a crisis because we believe this provides the best opportunity to keep our faculty, students, and staff even safer," said Scott Burnotes, director of MDC Emergency Preparedness.
Registered users will also receive messages regarding large-scale incidents affecting the county, such as hurricanes, hazardous materials releases and terrorist attacks. The alert service is provided free of charge, but text messaging fees may apply depending on the receiver's mobile calling plan.
While anyone can register, the system is aimed at the MDC college community--students, family, faculty, and staff. Although registration confirmation messages are generated in English, the registration process allows subscribers to select their preferred language for receiving alerts.
Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business. Send your higher education technology news to her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Gates Highlights R&D at CES08, Unveils Microsoft Touch Wall
Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates spent a lot of time Wednesday talking about "empowering the workers" at the Microsoft's 12th annual CEO Summit 2008 in Redmond, WA, where he gave a keynote speech. However, Gates wasn't talking about political revolutions or even pay raises for office workers before the CEO crowd. Instead, he was referring to new software technologies that can better enable collaboration, social networking and decision-making on the job.
- Vista Vulnerability Study Puts Microsoft on Defensive
Microsoft and some independent security researchers had the blogosphere buzzing Wednesday over a series of denunciations after one company claimed that the Vista operating system was more vulnerable to malware and other exploits than previous operating systems.
- New Blackboard Sync Application Leverages Facebook
Blackboard Inc. today announced Blackboard Sync, an application that allows students to receive course updates and communicate with classmates while logged on to Facebook.
- Standards: The Sooner the Better
Technology solutions work best when they well together. That is why the nonprofit group IMS Global Learning Consortium is developing learning tools interoperability standards for the education technology community...
- U.K. Education Group Escalates Microsoft Complaints
A consultancy to the U.K. government has forwarded complaints about Microsoft's licensing and interoperability practices to the European Commission (EC), according to an announcement issued by the Becta consulting group Monday.
- University Students and Researchers Enjoy JavaOne
The JavaOne conference, held May 6-9 in San Francisco, brought together developers from industry, education, and other markets, filling the Moscone Convention Center with a wide array of sessions and exhibits for the open source Java developer community.
