WE ROCK AT MOBILE

Georgian College’s text messaging service proved its worth yesterday when Barrie police triggered a lockdown. Responding to an anonymous call, police were informed of a possible gun threat on campus. An instant lockdown text message was then posted to staff and students. Although the gun claim was later found to be false; the value of  public safety messaging was gauged for the first time.

After running a pilot program last year, Georgian College has successfully integrated text messaging into its existing student information system.

The service will enable students to receive alert messages on their mobile phone – no matter what device or network provider they use.

Security staff are now equipped to notify students directly on any lock down or emergency incident taking place on campus and staff can dispatch these alerts out in just a few seconds.

Calling or emailing people in an emergency can be ineffective. Such communication can simply “jam up” but SMS tends to work unhindered especially if routed on a dedicated Short Code network.

The recent tragedy at Fort Hood was one such emergency, where at one point, all phone calls jammed up the system. Even the local Sheriff had to plead, live on CNN, that people only use their text message service.

Now government agencies and organizations around the World are now integrating SMS systems into their contingency plans and will use SMS to alert the public during a crisis.

Magnet Mobile’s own system, magALERT, is now used by a number of agencies in Canada. The easy to use system enables any organization to post out messages in seconds to a subscribed audience. This audience could be the general public, students, customers, military personnel or indeed company staff.

For more information about magALERT simply send an email to info@magnetmobile.com.