Launched on March 24, 2008, EagleAlert is one of the newest ways of communication on campus. With so many students carrying cell phones, Reinhardt has created a system that sends out alerts and updates to anyone who has registered for the service. Robby Westbrook, who is the director of Cherokee Sheriff’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, recently stated in an interview found at reinhardt.edu, said that, “Communication is the most important aspect of an emergency response.” It is an opt-in service; you must sign up and register in order to receive the alerts and updates. This allows students and faculty to have other options of receiving information from the school quicker, and many would say the most convenient way. Another great feature to the service is that parents will also be able to receive the same information via cell phone, PDA, or email.
The central focus of the system is for the school to be able to deliver important and emergency information to each student, parent, and staff member that is enrolled in the program though either the Waleska or North Fulton campus, in a more accurate and timely manner. In a recent interview posted on the Reinhardt college website, Dr. Roger Lee stated that, “We anticipate using the system to quickly issue severe weather advisories and school closings, as well as in times of campus wide emergency situations.” Such alerts would include emergency broadcasts, terrorist alerts, weather advisories, school closings, and event cancellations. Students and staff can register as many as two phone number as well as two email addresses, making the chances of the information being received promptly, that much greater. Reinhardt has recognized that due to the structure of many cell phone plans that not everyone will be able to register for the service without incurring additional fees through the cell phone service provider. To offset that barrier, they have set the system up so that you can opt in to the EagleAlert service without opting in to the text service. This means that you will be able to receive the updates and alerts via email without incurring any additional fees.
The EagleAlert system is created and run by a company called Omni Alert Network and the system used is the E2Campus. A recent survey was done by the company, showed that just over 90% of college students currently carry a cell phone. They send out mass messages to any school that enrolls in the usage of their system. They are the 1st and most trusted company in campus notification. They currently have over 400 colleges and 1 million students enrolled, making them a very reliable source for such an efficient way of delivering important information to students, faculty, parents and staff.
EagleAlert would have to be considered one of the most effective options as far as delivering an alert or update provided once again, that an eligible participant is enrolled. This system would be especially beneficial to any student that commutes. They would be notified immediately in the event of any cancellations or closing of the schools. The other aspect of the system that makes it effective is that students will presumably talk to other students about the notifications via email and text which will ultimately increase the effectiveness of the system.
