Link: Scoop: Bells and Whistles: Texting Given Emergency Duty

It’s free and it may even save your life.

The power of texting is being harnessed to help give Taranaki people warning of impending Civil Defence emergencies.

Free text alerts from the Taranaki Civil Defence Emergency Management Group will be broadcast as necessary to all those who subscribe to the service. Subscription is free no matter whether cellphone users are with Telecom or Vodafone.

Excellent, excellent. I’d like to see more and more organisations adopting text messaging as a medium for updating concerned parties.

Have a read of this one from the Washington Post. It’s an excellent example of how the medium of text messaging is truly taking root in the United States. If anyone ever tells you that America ‘is really far behind’, you would do well to point them to this article about small-town Augusta, Arkansas.

The reporter Jon Gambrell has done a good job of summarising the action in the first two paragraphs:

Rumors spread by cell phone text-messaging flew through a school after a student’s suicide, rumors that other kids planned to kill themselves, that students planned to bring weapons to school, that there was going to be “a shoot ‘em up.” Panicked parents rushed to take their children home.

Jon goes on to explain that there had been a teenage suicide a few weeks previously — which some enterprising (?) student used apparently as an excuse to generate some panic and thus get out of the end of term exams. The captain of the Augusta Police Department was understandably less than impressed. Especially when he started getting phone calls from neighbouring police chiefs, who, having got wind of the ’shooting’ asking if he needed assistance.

Blevins said the panic was initially spread by students who claimed said they had received threatening text messages.

“Of course, this never happened. It’s just more damn rumors,” Moore said. “Every kid down there has a cell phone and they just jibber-jabber, jibber-jabber.”

The article doesn’t say how the students’ parents got wind of the issue — one imagines they also received related text messages with similar messages. They didn’t hang about though..

Panicked parents headed to the campus, and by 10 a.m. only 25 students remained at the 335-pupil elementary school.

I had my head in my hands reading this story — ‘geez, not another emergency text service failing to deliver’ — particularly after the news from November that the Connecticut State University text notification system didn’t work.

Here’s the story I caught:

Link: The Independent Florida Alligator: News - UF to test texting alerts after LSU glitch

The emergency text-messaging system at Louisiana State University, similar to UF’s system, was less effective than the school had hoped following a double homicide on its campus.

LSU officials sent an emergency text message to students, faculty and staff members who had registered their cell phones with the university’s system after two students, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, were found dead in Allam’s apartment on Dec. 13 with gunshot wounds to their heads.

However, many of those registered did not receive the message, although the university and its text message provider, clearTXT, have yet to determine the number of failed messages.

Ah hah, a supplier has been mentioned! Gosh, how embarrassing to be a provider of emergency text message services — and to have them apparently fail on the first real-world try out.

Well, I visited the clearTXT website and they’ve cleverly been ultra clear about what happened:

With respect to the events that occurred on the LSU campus on 12/14/07, following is a statement from clearTXT regarding mobile message delivery:

clearTXT and LSU have investigated why some members of the LSU community did not receive their emergency text message. The issue resulted from a misunderstanding between LSU and clearTXT about how enrollment data was to be collected from subscribers in the LSU Personal Access Web Services (PAWS), not a malfunction of the text messaging system. This situation has been resolved and all those who previously subscribed and all those who subscribe in the future will be opted-in to receive text notifications in the event of an emergency. Additional information is available on the LSU website.

So I’m pleased, very pleased, that it wasn’t the supplier at fault and it was just a misunderstanding. I look forward to reading more news in the future about the effectiveness of emergency text. I’m a big fan of the service and I’m pretty sure, someday soon, we’re going to read about just how useful a service it is.

I still don’t know if any UK Universities have implemented an emergency text service. I’ll contact UCL, my alma matter, and see if they’ve got one in place.

Does your Uni have one?

On the back of the news story I published earlier related to e2Campus, here’s a note on two other providers, Rave Wireless and Mobile Campus…

Link: Startups rush to deliver phone-based alert systems to campuses : SecureID News

Colleges have other options for cell phone alerts, of course. They could go off campus and hire a company specializing in text messaging. That’s what Rave Wireless and Mobile Campus are offering to universities.

Rave offers what its COO, Raju Rishi, calls “an alert solution, which basically gives the university the ability to get emergency broadcasting to the entire school

Business is brisk for the chaps over at emergency alert services company, Omnilert, providers of e2Campus. I suspect it’s been a good year for them.

Link:
San Luis Obispo County’s website | 12/19/2007 | New system will use text messages to alert Cal Poly students and staff of campus emergencies

Cal Poly students and employees can now be alerted to campus emergencies via text message.

The new system, administered by the company e2Campus, enables university officials to send instant messages to subscribers’ e-mail accounts and mobile phones via SMS text messages.

An SMS Text News reader has emailed me asking if I know of any companies providing Emergency Text/SMS services in Switzerland.

I can’t think of any. Can you? If so, please do let me know — either posting a comment below or by email.

Ah now you know how I’m forever going on about how Universities, Colleges, Schools and organisations need to implement emergency text services? Well, here’s a bit of news from the University of Connecticut. They’ve installed one such system (provided by emergency notification service, Reverse 911) and they did a test recently.

Predictably, some staff and students got the message immediately. Others had to wait hours — up to 3 hours — because of the creaking infrastructure serving the University.

Well I assume it’s the creaking infrastructure. It’s a piece of simplicity to whack 16,000 text messages through your gateway. Most API gateways will receive those texts at, what, 1,000 texts a second? Then the messages need to be queued into the relevant mobile network for delivery. Theoretically we’re talking seconds. But in reality… well… if your messages aren’t given high priority by the networks, you going to have to wait for ages for them all to be delivered. I’m not quite clear on the quality of the interconnects in America; nor the throughput quality at the cell phone towers serving the University. I wonder if this is something that the team at Reverse 911 can actually influence or whether it’s time for a big shrug and lots of prodding of the mobile networks?

Link: UConn Texting Test Falls Short — Courant.com

The University of Connecticut is trying to work out the kinks in its new emergency text message alert system after a test of the system showed it took as long as three hours for messages to reach some students. Other students never received them.

Though the university has successfully set up a number of other ways to alert students to emergencies, the text message system may never work perfectly.

“Here, here!” as they say in some parts of London after a bit of brandy.

Link: University Requires Emergency Texting - Education News Story - WGCL Atlanta

In the wake of the Virginia Tech campus massacre, Boston University is setting the standard when it comes to making sure its students are safe and informed in case of emergency.

The school is the first in the nation to mandate that students sign up for text message alerts, WCVB-TV in Boston reported.

If students don’t sign up, they can’t register for spring classes.

This weekend, the school sent out test alerts to about 40,000 students.

Finally. Finally. I’m a HUGE fan of these types of services. I think it’s critical for any large institution to be able to connect with its subscribers, employees, students or guests — and I’m delighted to see that Boston University’s management have taken this position. If you’re not on the emergency text list, you don’t get to go to class. Love it.

I’d like to see this sort of service offered to Hotels too. Although you’d need to have a verrrrry smart information system for that…

News in this morning from Hugh at mobile messaging and telephony provider, MediaBurst. They’ve won a deal wth reputable law firm, Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, to provide them with ther disaster text service, ‘Business Continuity’.

It’s genius. Well, it is, and it isn’t. It’s actually really simple — but a massive, massive issue for almost every company. The genius bit is getting clients to buy and use the service. I just can’t understand how so many companies can get by without these kinds of systems. It’s similar to how I react when I hear that a school’s only way of communicating with parents is by sending a letter home! Ridiculous.

What do big companies do if there’s a bomb alert — or, worse — if the company’s building is destroyed by a bomb at 6am in the morning? Do they phone each employee to say ‘right, er, listen…’ and explain the problem? How do they co-ordinated their employees? I know most financial institutions have standby trading rooms and telephone tree style systems. One bank I know has issued all its traders with a business-card sized instruction leaflet containing helpful suggestions like: “If you think the office has been blown up, please phone this number to hear an answer machine message from the management”.

So I am always delighted when I read and report about trailblazers in this field.

Have a read of the announcement:

City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) LLP is the latest business to adopt Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool as central to its disaster recovery plan. The web-based tool will enable the law firm to instantly communicate with partners, lawyers and support staff during emergencies to ensure business continuity.

“Mediaburst’s Business Continuity text tool is one of the most cost-effective and efficient means of instantly communicating and interacting with people during emergencies,” says Neil Davison, RPC’s IT operations manager. “At a time when phone networks become congested and communications fail, text messages get delivered. That’s why Mediaburst’s tool has been selected as the prime communicator in our disaster recovery plan.”

Davison’s comments refer to a specific communications problem that all businesses will face during emergencies be they floods, fires, bomb incidents, or otherwise. Phone lines will be come congested and people will be difficult to contact. As text messages do not rely on voice channels for transmission, they don’t piggyback on enterprise mail servers and travel as small packets of data on a wireless carrier’s control channel … the same portion of the spectrum that keeps a mobile network apprised of a particular phone’s location and status. Being isolated in the control channel, SMS messages are therefore usually unaffected by heavy traffic or adverse conditions that overwhelm wireless networks.

More from MediaBurst at www.mediaburst.com.

Link: Moneyweb - In Business Today - SMS technology puts the brakes on bunking

By offering an unlimited sms service for schools, staff can inform parents immediately when a child hasn’t arrived at school and changes in extra curricular activities can easily be relayed eliminating the problem of children not being picked up on time.

“We have had an incredible response from the 200 schools using the system, all of them stating that the communication and interaction between teachers and parents has increased dramatically.” says smsweb’s managing director, Salah Elbaba, adding, “When a child does not arrive at school in time, the parent can be informed immediately and should the child be missing, the whole school and all parents can be informed with only one sms.”

You can find more information at their site, smsweb.co.za.

It always seems to me that the United Kingdom, one of the hotbeds of texting in Europe, is always behind when it comes to organisations such as the emergency services or government departments deploying text services.

That’s not always the case though. Hot on the heels of today’s news about Mumbai Police Department issuing a text number for disabled citizens, the emergency services in Cumbria (think North England/Lake District/Lowlands of Scotland) have launched a similar service.

SMS Text News reader Jeremy caught this news (via Hearing Concern):

A new text number is being launched in Cumbria to help deaf and speech impaired people get in touch with the emergency services.

The force said the move will mean all three emergency services will be available through a single number.

The service has been developed with the North West Ambulance Service and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.

Currently disabled callers must use a talk type machine and go through an operator to access emergency services.

The force said the new service will strengthen the relationship between the emergency services and Cumbria’s disabled community.

Chief Inspector Stephen Halliday said: “I believe the implementation of this new service is a great step forward for us and the wider disabled community.

“We strongly believe anything we can do to make contacting the police in an emergency situation as accessible as possible is vital to the quality of the service we provide.”

This service will only be available to deaf, hearing impaired or speech impaired people.

The number to use is being distributed through the Cumbria Deaf Association.

Good news, good news. I’m sure this will be a very useful service.

More of the same, please, across the country!

Interested in visiting Cumbria? (You never know).

Link: Anon SMS for Sending Crime Tips to the Police

Communications agency Hill Holliday have teamed up with the City of Boston and the Boston Police Department to launch a new anonymous text message tip line for the US city.

In a press conference held today, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis unveiled the major initiative to revitalize the city’s anonymous crime tip hotline. The tip hotline program, called Crime Stoppers, is being enhanced by enabling citizens to text message an anonymous tip to police. In addition, the program will be promoted to Bostonians though a targeted pro bono advertising campaign.

“The City of Boston is excited to introduce this new and innovative approach to the Boston Police Department’s Crime Stoppers program,” said Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis. “We are confident that the anonymity of the text function coupled with the sophisticated outreach program will inspire individuals to provide police with helpful, investigative tips.”

The technical side, user interface and mobile connections are being provided by Verisign. According to the report, this is the first such service in the US.

Link: House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 05 Jun 2007 (pt 0017)

Courtesy of SMS Text News reader Jeremy comes this little gem from a recent UK parliamentary written questions session.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set up a nationwide 999 text message service for deaf people who cannot telephone the emergency services. [114916]

Mr. Coaker: An emergency text relay service is already available to give the deaf and hard of hearing access to the emergency services. In addition a working group, including representatives from the emergency services and the mobile operators, has been set up by the 999 Liaison Committee to see whether an SMS emergency number service can be provided.

Link: cbs4.com - Get The Word Out With Alertify Mass Alert System

Similar to the Omnilert service, and jumping on the bandwagon following the Virginia Tech shootings incident, Fort Lauderdale-based Alertify have extended an offer to provide their notification service to colleges and universities nationwide at no cost.

American Heritage School in Plantation already has the system in place. It’s gotten plenty of use for simple school messages and emergency information, like if the school is placed on lockdown or if it’s closing due to storms.

“During the hurricanes of last year, there was a lot of confusion over whether we would return to school and what day and with the Alertify system we were notified immediately of all the present changes,” said student Kelly Chacon.

Good news for PageOne…

Link: Janet launches SMS service for network users - 30/Apr/2007 - ComputerWeekly.com

The Janet educational and research network has signed a deal with messaging firm PageOne to supply SMS text services to network users.
Janet said, “The familiar text format of SMS offers a capability for rapid communications in a huge range of educational scenarios.

This could be a potentially biggun for them — particularly if they can convince Universities to integrate mobile messaging into their existing communications strategies, e.g. as the article says, so they could send a text to all first year law undergraduates. They can do this with email right now — but it would also make a lot of sense to integrate a similar text service.

PageOne also have a rather sexy website. I like it!

I’ve been seeing a flurry of announcements across the mobile marketplace from companies jumping into the emergency text service category — particularly around the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech in America.

I’m pleased. I think this whole area needed a lot of attention from potential customers such as schools, colleges and large institutions. The Virginia Tech incident, although a shocking and upsetting event, is, I think, a watershed for the emergency text service market. More on this soon. Got a lot of news in from one of the market leaders, Omnilert too.