What conduit do you use to notify your employees, friends, family, or colleagues if a dramatic event occurs? My alma matter, Oregon State University, has sought out a way to alert students, faculty, and other stakeholders in the event of some sort of emergency. We have the traditional emergency alert system that the media uses, but not all college students actively listen to the radio or watch TV. This is why the university is seeking some other way to reach out students and factulty.

One tie that binds virtually every college student these days is cell phones, which is why the OSU Public Safety Office has launched an Emergency Alert System that uses text messaging to alert students, faculty, and staff when needed. The events at Virginia Tech, Delaware, and Tennessee have taught us the value of being able to alert students, faculty, and staff at the push of a button.

The software behind the new emergency alert system is the Blackboard Connect-ED Service and will be used to reach the 26,000 faculty, staff, and students of Oregon State University. To get signed up with service, this audience is asked to visit alert.oregonstate.edu and input your phone numbers you wish to receive alerts from. The service is said to cost less than $2.00 per user to implement.

This is just another way those Beavers from Oregon State are using technology!