Emergency Communications Management

Jonathan RoodCIO and Associate VP, San Francisco State University

Laine KenellerBusiness Continuity Planner & Project Manager,

University of California, Davis

Rodney PetersenGovernment Relations Officer, EDUCAUSE

Real time Connections With Technology

Emergency Communications Management

Planning for the

UN-planned

EDUCAUSE

Western Regional Conference 2008

Emergency Communications System

“Great Expectations”

• Can notify 40K individuals in seconds• Will be able to explain exactly what action to take• Will know when to send updates and what information to include • Everyone will know what to do – especially faculty, as students

will turn to them in a crisis• Appropriate individuals will be available at the exact start of the

emergency and be available to collaborate

Emergency Communications System in Practice (Reality Check)

– Takes time to make messages that are clear, instructive– Need many backups of responsible assigned staff– Overlapping messages may cause confusion– Txt and voice message must be brief – but recipients have many

questions– System is needed beyond initial incident: Plan beyond the

message, with pre-established roles for faculty, staff, managers– Message should follow pre-set guidelines which include:

• message delivery times• anticipated number of follow-up notices • user comprehension• type of emergency• understanding of pre-established leadership roles• all established procedures

System Requirements:More Than a Little Software

Extensive feature set, including:

• Schedule/send to multiple phones peer user plus text, e-mail, TTY• Group management• Reporting tools with statistical results• Contact administration for delete, add, change• Assurance that calls have priority routing• Hassle-free data upload with flexible attributes

• Adoption of city / state emergency communication systems

• Tap into civic services / notifications

• Two-way communication: call / response for skilled resources – e.g., need available electricians/nurses/language translators– Identification, notification, and authentication by skill/certification

• Campus can both request and provide resources

Integration with Civic Infrastructure

Ready, Set, …Delivering a System

• Need policies, procedures, task assignments

• Who’s involved? University Police, Information Technology, Human Resources, Public Relations / Communications, Enrollment Services and Registrations, Student Affairs, Health Center, Faculty Affairs, Administration & Finance and more

• Security of personal data and policies for use of contact data

• Collecting data…how to encourage, mandate vs. opt-in

• Testing, small, medium and full scale

• Creating a feedback loop

• Ongoing review process

UC Davis began RFP process UC Davis began RFP process in June of 2006 in June of 2006

Committee representation from Committee representation from Police Department, Operations Police Department, Operations and Maintenance, Purchasing and Maintenance, Purchasing

and IETand IET

September 2007, the last September 2007, the last phase in the purchase phase in the purchase process was completedprocess was completed

UC Davis Emergency UC Davis Emergency Notification SystemNotification System

We Have Your Number!We Have Your Number!

Chancellor’s Taskforce Chancellor’s Taskforce created in October 2007created in October 2007

API built from on-line API built from on-line directory to WARNdirectory to WARN

54,000 records uploaded 54,000 records uploaded

December 2007, December 2007, Chancellor sent email Chancellor sent email asking faculty & staff to asking faculty & staff to update contact infoupdate contact info

Network TestNetwork Test

5 separate tests5 separate tests

Clearly defined goalsClearly defined goals

2 day time frame2 day time frame

13,000 participants13,000 participants

Staff, Faculty & Staff, Faculty & StudentsStudents

Interesting Test FactsInteresting Test FactsFirst message acknowledged 1 second from test initiation

Number of emails delivered on campus within 5 seconds: 76%

March Incident: Approx March Incident: Approx 55,000 emails sent and 55,000 emails sent and received within 16 minutesreceived within 16 minutes

Speed of Delivery per Device:1. SMS Text Messaging / Cell2. Email3. Work Phones4. Pagers

Technical Issues IdentifiedTechnical Issues Identified

Incoming carrier trunk capacity issuesIncoming carrier trunk capacity issues

““Missing” calls not received during testMissing” calls not received during test

Majority of pager messages not deliveredMajority of pager messages not delivered

Approximately 800 emails unaccounted forApproximately 800 emails unaccounted for

What’s Next?What’s Next?

Modify on-line directory to accept Modify on-line directory to accept emergency informationemergency informationPublic Awareness CampaignPublic Awareness CampaignDetermine ongoing testing scheduleDetermine ongoing testing scheduleIn the absence of industry standards, need In the absence of industry standards, need to establish UC System benchmarkto establish UC System benchmark– What % of population should be notified?What % of population should be notified?– How soon should they be notified?How soon should they be notified?– Continuous improvementContinuous improvement

Implementation Tool KitImplementation Tool Kithttp://vpiet.ucdavis.edu/ems/http://vpiet.ucdavis.edu/ems/

Functional RequirementsFunctional RequirementsRFP RFP Vendor Scoring MatrixVendor Scoring MatrixChancellor’s Charter LetterChancellor’s Charter LetterEmergency Notification PolicyEmergency Notification PolicyTest PlanTest PlanTest ResultsTest ResultsCommunication PlanCommunication PlanFAQ’sFAQ’s

Discussion

Share your experiences and questions with your colleagues as together we sketch out a roadmap to providing this important service. Who must be involved in the planning and management of these systems? What policies are needed? What is happening on your campus? Other questions?

Resources

EDUCAUSE Emergency Communications Constituent Grouphttp://www.educause.edu/15272EDUCAUSE Connect: Emergency Notification Systemshttp://connect.educause.edu/term_view/Emergency+Notification+SystemsNACUBO Campus Safety and Security Projecthttp://www.nacubo.org/x10053.xml