Recently, Virginia Tech conducted the first campus-wide test of its emergency mass notification system since installing visual alerting displays. During the multi-modal test, Virginia Tech instantly communicated to the vast majority of its campus community with Inova Solution’s OnAlert™ LED displays, while other modes of communication, such as SMS/text and email messages, took up to 20 minutes to deliver messages.
“A college campus is like a small city, so it’s important to have multiple communication channels,” said Larry Hincker, Virginia Tech’s Associate Vice President for University Relations, explaining that Virginia Tech has more than 29,000 full-time students and 1,300 full-time instructors. With the largest full-time student population in Virginia, the main campus includes more than 130 buildings, 2,600 acres, and an airport.