1 5/3/2007EDUCAUSE Live! EDUCAUSE Live! May 3, 2007 Mark Katsouros ([email protected]) Telecommunication & Network Services The University of Iowa

5/3/2007EDUCAUSE Live!1

EDUCAUSE Live!May 3, 2007

Mark Katsouros ([email protected])Telecommunication & Network Services

The University of Iowa

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the

opinions of any other entity.

Emergency Notificationfor a Mobile Community


Recent Events

Our hearts and prayers go out to our colleagues from Virginia Tech, and to all the members of the Virginia Tech community affected by the terrible tragedy there. The U. of Iowa particularly empathizes, having had a similar incident occur on our campus in 1991 (Gang Lu).

Please note that any observations or suggestions made during this talk are not meant to "second guess" the handling of the Virginia Tech tragedy in any way.

At the same time, we know this tragic event has generated tremendous interest within higher education, particularly when it comes to concrete steps which campuses might be able to take to improve their own readiness.

One area which seems to particularly resonate at many sites is emergency notification.


Some Potential Notification Scenarios

Emergency– Active Shooter– Bomb Threats– Severe Weather– Hazmat– Terrorist Attacks

Non-Emergency– Class/Event/Meeting Cancellations– Important Deadline Announcements


Who Might be Notified

All Members of the Campus Community in a Particular Part of Campus, such as All People in a Particular Building or Quadrant

Those with Responsibility for Particular Facilities or Buildings, such as Building Managers or Resident Assistants in Residence Halls

Institutional Executive Leadership Emergency Response Teams Communications Staff Students/Employees who May be at Home or in Transit

(Sometimes you'd like folks who are currently off campus tosimply stay off campus until an incident has been resolved.)

Parents, Spouses, and Others who May be Worried about Family Members Going to School at the Site of an Incident

Users with Special Needs / Disabilities Or Simply All Members of the Campus Community (and

Possibly Even the Entire City / Neighboring Communities)


The (Potential) Challenges

Communicating with Mobile, Diverse, and Multiple Constituencies

Communicating with so Many at Once, and Quickly Difficulty of Use / Lack of System Familiarity

(Especially During an Emergency) Establishing Policies/Procedures (Separate from the

Technology) Institutional Contact Database Media Overload/Reliability/Timeliness Message Delivery (Conciseness vs. Enough

Information) Costs


The Spectrum of Solutions “Sirens”/Loudspeakers Voice/Phone (Especially Cell Phones) Text Messaging (SMS) E-mail Web RSS Feeds Pop-ups Video/CATV Instant Messaging AM/FM Radio Two-Way Radio Emergency-/Weather-Band Radio Fire Panel Alarms with Voice Enunciation Public Address Systems (Including Mobile/Portable) Digital Signage (Including Changeable Message Signs on Roads) Word of Mouth (More Help in an Emergency Situation than One Might

Realize)


Some Supplemental/Indirect/Convergent Technologies That (Might) Help

VoIPIP VideoWirelessGPSGIS MappingRFIDText-to-SpeechTTY/TDD


Why a Multi-Pronged Approachis Probably Necessary

Potential Media Failures/BottlenecksDiversity of Individual Communication

CapabilitiesDiversity of Individual PreferencesDiversity of Emergency SituationsDiversity of Contact LocationsIndividual Disabilities


The Different Models in the “Electronic Message Pushing” Genre of Products

AdvantagesDisadvantages

Local · Cost (Potentially) · Single Point of Failure

· Total Control · Capacity· System Maintenance· Access to System (Potentially)

Hosted · Huge Capacity · Cost (Potentially)

· No Local Equipment · Possible Data Security Issues· Access to System

Hybrid · All/Most of the Above · All/Most of the Above


How a Few of the Vendors Seem to Stack up(Based on Individual Research/Trials)

Reverse911 (Hybrid)– GIS Mapping– Extra/Contingent Calling Capacity via Hosted Part (Per-Call-Minute Pricing

Model)– Single Point of Failure

Automated Message Delivery System (Local)– IP Video Messaging and SIP/“Presence” Support– Potential Calling Capacity Issues

Xtend’s Emergency Campus Notification (Local)– NTSC Video Support– Digital Signage Support– Potential Calling Capacity Issues

Connect-ED (Hosted)– Excellent Calling Capacity (and Unlimited Calls Pricing Model)– Seemingly Most “Multi-Pronged”– API– SMS Support– Web Access


Non-Emergency Uses of Those Solutions Supporting Unlimited Calls (Cost-Recovery/-Sharing Opportunities)

Opt-in Special Event Announcements/Reminders

Specific Class AnnouncementsDrop/Add Deadline RemindersBill Due Date RemindersAthleticsAlumniOther Student Clubs / Chat GroupsEtc.


Current Trial at The U. of Iowa: Connect-ED

Quickly Gotten off the Ground Data Imports from Enterprise Directory, so Same Self-Service Portal

Facilitates Maintained Contact Info Microcosm of Multi-Pronged Concept (Voice, E-mail, and SMS Support,

with More Apparently Coming) “Unlimited calls” model naturally supports continued testing and system

familiarity. “Unlimited groups” further add to flexibility of system. In the interest of time, considering going with such a hosted solution

immediately (1st year), then possibly an RFP. Policies still need to be developed/ratified, which is critical.


Additional Resources

ACUTA is compiling a collection/summary of its members’ plans, to be posted on the ACUTA website (http://www.acuta.org).

Archives of [email protected] (http://listserv.educause.edu/archives/cio.html)

EDUCAUSE Business Continuity Management Constituent Group (http://www.educause.edu/12480)

EDUCAUSE Business Continuity Planning Resource Page (http://www.educause.edu/Browse/645?PARENT_ID=142)

Internet2 Disaster Planning and Recovery Group (http://security.internet2.edu/dr)


Additional Resources (cont’d.)

Joe St Sauver’s “Mass Real Time Emergency Notification” Slides from I2 (http://www.uoregon.edu/~joe/notification)

Lengthy Study Conducted in Florida (http://ec.creol.ucf.edu/FinalReport_EmergComm.pdf)

SUMMARY-Emergency Notification Systems.xls from EDUCAUSE CIO Archive (http://listserv.educause.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A3=ind0610&L=CIO&P=1881333&E=2&B=--------------070607060106030807070506&N=SUMMARY-Emergency+Notification+Systems.xls&T=application%2Fvnd.ms-excel)

Presentation planned for upcoming Joint ICS/Wireless Meeting at EDUCAUSE 2007 (http://educause.edu/ICSMeetings/12872).


Acknowledgement

Some information was liberally borrowed from Joe St Sauver’s “Mass Real Time Emergency Notification” Slides from I2, with his kind permission.


Q&A

Documents

1 5/3/2007EDUCAUSE Live! EDUCAUSE Live! May 3, 2007 Mark Katsouros ([email protected]) Telecommunication & Network Services The University of Iowa