Text messaging invaluable for campus news, security

It’s an upgrade of the good, old-fashioned phone tree.

Students, parents and teachers don’t have to turn on the TV or radio either to find out if school’s canceled when it’s snowing in Bonner County.

They can just pick up their cell phones.

The Lake Pend Oreille School District is among several nationwide using text messages to spread word of school closures, emergencies and even to quash rumors.

“Text messaging is a common thing any more,” Assistant Administrator Doug Olin said.

Now the district is tapping into that technology. Users pay 99 cents a month through their cellular phone provider.

Before the district began using the First Alert Text System, Olin said many times news spread student to student through text messaging before school officials could make an announcement.

North Idaho College is launching NICAlerts this fall and is encouraging students, instructors and parents to sign up for the free service.

“Studies have shown that students use cell phones more than any other communication means,” NIC Campus Security Lt. Bob Thomson said in a press release.

The NICAlerts system – provided by the company e2Campus – is capable of notifying thousands of people instantaneously if there’s trouble on campus, Thomson said.

College officials say the system complies with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crimes Statistics Act. The law requires colleges to “give timely warnings” of threats to students.

“The notice must be timely and reasonably likely to reach the entire campus community,” Thomson said.

Text messaging helped authorities catch a suspect at Millersville University in Pennsylvania after students who received the message spotted the suspect and contacted police.

Eastern Washington University in Cheney used a similar system to inform students of a bomb threat on campus in 2007.

Robert Craddock, CEO of Florida-based FAST, said his company offers subscribers texts about off-campus concerns, too.

News of extreme weather or natural disasters and even terrorist threats can be sent through FAST texts.

The systems work when the power is out and even when cell phone lines are so overloaded that traditional calls can’t go through.

Craddock said administrators don’t have to be near a computer to send out an alert. All they need to do is punch a code right into their cell phone.

The message can also immediately be sent to police.

“It really speeds up the process,” he said.