Miami Student

Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: Editorials

Eric Frey For The Miami Student

This summer, Miami University launched an emergency text messaging service in an attempt to improve communication between the administration and students in the event of a crisis situation on campus. However, while universities such as Purdue University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which have started similar programs, have conducted university wide tests of their emergency text messaging services, Miami has not yet done so. The Miami Student editorial board feels that students must continue to sign up for the service, and it is imperative to conduct a test of the existing system to see if it is effective, and determine what steps should be taken to further improve crisis communication between the university and the student body.

In order to be reached by the text messages, students are required to sign up for the service over Blackboard, and to date only approximately 3,700 faculty, staff and students have signed up for the service. This number falls considerably short of the 10,000-message capacity the university currently has, and the low number of enrolled students may be one reason that the university is holding off on testing the system. While there is the danger that repeated practice tests could reduce students' sensitivity to university text messages, it is important that tests of the service take place in order to determine the system's effectiveness in light of the recent tragedies that have taken place at schools and campuses across the country.

Several potential problems with the text messaging service have already cropped up in tests conducted at Purdue and Virginia Tech, including the challenges posed by the limited character count of the messages, incomplete cell-phone reception in buildings and message delivery delays of up to 30 minutes. These issues further necessitate that Miami conduct its own test in order to find out how these problems will affect our campus' crisis communication system. Furthermore, this message system is not cheap, costing the university roughly $9,500 for the current level of service. While this investment is justified if the system works, the cost involved is an issue if the messaging program is ineffective, as the funds could be spent in other ways in an attempt to keep the student body safe.

Ultimately, a test of the emergency text messaging service is overdue, however this week's designation by the Miami University Police Department as Safety Awareness Week presents a good opportunity to coincide a test of the service with the efforts to sign up more students. As long as the system remains untested, it has not effectively been put in place. Along these lines, it makes far more sense to realize the text messaging program's shortcoming during a practice scenario than during a real emergency. It should be remembered, however, that a test is only the first step, and appropriate measures must be taken to follow up any test of the system with proper analysis and process revisions in order to maximize its effectiveness.

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