If organizations are unsure that text messaging is an effective form of communication, this example from Purdue University may change that.
Last month, the Indiana-based school was the latest victim of on-campus crime, where one student injured another, the Northwestern Indiana Times reported. However, because the university's emergency notification system sent text alerts out to over 50,000 subscribers and blared sirens throughout campus, officials were able to keep the casualty at one.
Students and faculty members were able to resume operations for the most part because they were able to contain the shooting to one building, but the campus did its part to actively communicate.
Ron Wright, director of Emergency Preparedness, explained to a local CBS affiliate that they have been working on improving student safety through the use of a campus-wide SMS service, and decided to implement such a solution after the Virginia Tech shootings.
"What we're trying to do is hit as many places around the university as possible and then spread information around by word of mouth to get to as many people as possible so that they can then implement their individual plan on how to protect themselves," he said.
Students felt the system worked for them, Becca Goff stated that "[w]ithout that, I don't know how I really would have known what was going on," while Nicholas Hobar added that it worked well, given the situation Purdue was in.
There are multiple ways to apply the technology of text messaging services to an organization's day-to-day activities. It can be applied to send time-sensitive promotions or provide directions to a group of people. Swift SMS Gateway can help establish a platform that works for every need your staff is looking for.
