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Auto-upload of cellphone numbers enhances reach of Emergency Notification System

Results of Miami University’s emergency notification system (ENS) test from Friday, Sept. 21, improve upon last year’s positive results.

Eighty percent of responders to a follow-up survey said they received at least one alert within five minutes. Last year, 69 percent reported receiving a message that early.

About 93 percent of survey responders reported to have received an e-mail alert. Eighty-four percent received a text alert, up from 54 percent last year. This year, all student, staff and faculty cellphone numbers in Banner were uploaded into the text alert system in addition to those numbers that were already registered to receive text messages.

Representatives of the Institutional Response Team (IRT) sent test messages at 11:45 a.m. via the following methods using the e2Campus program:

  • Email and text message alerts.
  • Informacast, the voice- and display-based feature for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephones and blue light emergency phone towers (Oxford campus).
  • The Four Winds Interactive digital signage system.
  • Miami Cable Television System.
  • Miami University Oxford, Regionals, myMiami and police services websites.
  • Full-screen alerts on university-owned computer monitors.
  • A Twitter alert on the university account.

About 34 percent of recipients responded to an email survey sent to a random list of 10,000 staff, faculty and students on all local campuses.

How recipients received their first alerts:

  • 65 percent received a text message first.
  • 17 percent received an email first.
  • 8.2 percent saw a computer monitor alert first.
  • 7.8 percent percent got their first alert from a campus telephone.

Also, 34 percent of survey takers were off campus when the alert was sent, but most received a text or email notice.

All members of the Miami University community are encouraged to review the online emergency procedure information. Links to other safety information, including a 6-minute video on how to react to a shooter, are on that page.

If you need to update your account through Miami’s emergency notification system, please go to www.miamioh.edu/ens. If you need assistance with your e2Campus cellphone registration, contact the IT help desk, 513-529-7900 or ithelp@miamioh.edu.