If you are on a community college campus during an emergency, you may not get relevant information as quickly or efficiently as you should.
Community colleges are the least likely to have integrated, multi-modal systems to quickly reach the largest number of people when crisis strikes, finds a recent study of Clery Act reports by Siemens Building Technologies division.
The research focused on 77 institutions of higher learning across the country. Common communications platforms were classified into four groups:
- At Your Side (text messaging, email)
- Indoor (public address system, digital signage, posted notices)
- Outside (outside public address system, warning sirens, blue light towers)
- Extended (social media, CCTV)
The study found that community colleges rely heavily on At Your Side alerts, while public universities and schools located in the South tend to have the most sophisticated plans, including several types of communications platforms and multi-modal systems.
“Our research clearly shows that many colleges and universities can, and should, enhance their systems in order to have the best chance of alerting more people and weathering an imminent threat situation,” says Berkly Trumbo, national business manager for Siemens Integrated Security Solutions.