Use of SMS could have saved VT lives
Posted by MattE on 21 Apr 2007 at 10:11 am | Tagged as: Communications, SMS
The use of an SMS warning sent to all on campus could have saved lives in the Virginia Tech massacre. Instead email was used which had far less reach and less timeliness.
The use of an email warning was also used in today’s shooting at the NASA Space Center. In this incident, staff were also notified of the situation via email.
The problem with email is it requires the recipient to be at their computer at the time. In the case of VT, those at risk were unlikely to have been online at the time.
Instead, SMS could have easily reached a far greater proportion of the population of both shooting sites.
One of the tragedies of Virginia Tech is the Tech had implemented an SMS system - but is was never used in this event. As is pointed out in this good blog entry on this same topic it seems that rallying against a girl act at a local tavern was the sort of use that was favoured. Vital information promptly needed, it was not… (Note that the post on the VT mobile message website has been removed, but follow the above link for a screen shot.)
The penetration of mobile phones into any workplace means SMS can provide a fast and reliable communications method, especially in situations where staff are not chained to their desks for the majority of the time.
To implement a workable system, all that needs to be done is to have everyone registered on an central database. This can be done through enrollment, registration or employment records. Another way is to have people self-register according to selected criteria that they align with - depending on the location and activity type, such as late classes on Wednesday, this could be used for distribution of a range of message types pertinent to that person.
Safety on university and college campuses is no better than anywhere else in our community, and one could argue in some instances it is more dangerous. SMS is an ideal technology to bring to people’s attention alerts on personal safety. For instance, at night if a suspicious person is noted lurking, then a message can be sent to the database of students who have registered as attending late classes on that weekday.
Implementing such a system is not hard, and there are interfaces that include desktop programs, plug-ins for Internet Explorer and MS Outlook, plus web login interfaces and of course being able to broadcast to pre-established databases from a mobile handset is also possible.
If you have an interest in implementing such a system in your workplace or campus, please contact us
Comments welcome
