From noon to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, UF will be testing its new emergency notification system, which has been redesigned to get the message out to everyone faster than before.
In addition to an alert posted on UF's home page, text messages and emails will be sent to notify students, faculty and staff, UF officials said.
Announcements will also be made through speakers equipped on the campus' office phones and also through loudspeakers at select locations on campus.
Those locations include the Plaza of the Americas, Reitz Union North Lawn, Broward Hall and Turlington Plaza.
The biggest change to the system is that UF is employing Singlewire, a vendor partner, to distribute the emergency alerts. Instead of having to use multiple channels to distribute the message, the university can now deliver alerts from one place.
"We used to have to send out all the text messages, then emails, then update the home page and so on," UF spokesman Steve Orlando said. "But now we can do it all from one computer screen."
Everyone registered for classes will be receiving the alerts.
In order to receive alerts, UF students should register their emergency contact information with myUFL and make sure it is up-to-date.
If students do not receive the text alerts, they are encouraged to text "SUBSCRIBE" to 23177 and 63079.
