After the threat of an armed gunman on University of South Florida campus ended without harm Friday afternoon, UF said its response system is similar, adequate and improving.
USF used text messaging, Web site updates and intercoms to keep students and faculty aware of developing information, tools which UF uses or plans to use.
During the recent gun scare, MoBull, a text alert system named after USF/s horned mascot, reached 97 percent of their contacts within four minutes, said Lara Wade, USF spokeswoman.
UF took 20 to 30 minutes to contact most students in recent tests, UF spokesman Steve Orlando said.
Students at USF were first alerted of a possible gunman by a voice over loudspeakers, four of which broadcast from the top of parking garages for maximum coverage, Wade said.
UF is installing a speaker system, which should be completed within a year, according to William Properzio, director of UF/s Environmental Health and Safety Department.
The speakers will be installed in classrooms and outside areas, such as the Plaza of the Americas. The system will cost about $1 million, Properzio said.
According to Orlando, speaker installation already began at the law school.
Orlando also said a low number of UF staff are set to receive alert text messages compared to other major Florida universities such as University of Miami, which can contact 88 percent of its employees through text in an emergency.
This may account for the disparity in delay time between UF/s text system and USF/s MoBull.
UF also uses "reverse 911" which allows the Alachua County Sheriff/s Office to send telephone messages, or text-to-speech, to every phone in specific buildings on campus.
"In a recent test it took us anywhere from five to 10 minutes to reach three buildings," Orlando said.
UF uses the ConnectED service to text information to students and faculty in case of an emergency, Orlando said.
However, ConnectED, a product of Massachusetts-based Blackboard Inc., can run into trouble when many people in the same area use its service simultaneously.
"It/s like trying to make a phone call at a Gator game," Orlando said.
Phone reception dead zones are also an obstacle to UF/s text alert system.
"Until recently I didn/t even get cell phone service at my desk," Orlando said.
Beyond alert systems, Orlando stressed students should be aware of their surroundings.
"If you observe something [weird] in a friend, report it," he said. "Tell somebody."
Above all, Orlando said UF/s Student affairs and counseling staff as the most important part of campus safety.
"If we can address something like that early on, we stand a much better chance of preventing a bad situation later on. Prevention is always a better path," he wrote in an e-mail.
