The police intercom system tested a new type of phone during an emergency drill.
Students and faculty practiced an active shooter/shelter in place drill at 9:45 a.m. on Aug. 26. These types of drills are done periodically to test the system and make sure the campus community understands how to respond in case of an emergency, said Rusty Pyle, former chief of police.
The police department has replaced their analog phones with Skype Voice over Internet Protocol phones. Pyle said the old system allowed a message to broadcast for any duration of time, but the new system shut off after about eight seconds, cutting off the warning.
“The Information Technology department is currently working with the vendor to fix this,” Pyle said. “As always with new technology, you have to work the little bugs out, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
In addition to the intercom system, the drill was broadcast via text message, email, social media, and desktop alerts.
“We always issue emergency alerts and drills through every available channel to give the campus community multiple ways to receive the message,” Pyle said.
Tara Ramakrishnan, business sophomore, said she heard the intercom while leaving the Meinders building.
“It’s really important that campus safety procedures are enforced,” Ramakrishnan said. “You never know when a real intruder could come on campus, so every safety measure they can impose, I feel, is going to be beneficial.”
Ramakrishnan also said she heard from her peers some of the Blue Phones on campus are not working.
Pyle said this is an issue that is also being addressed.
“The majority of the Blue Phones are working just fine,” Pyle said. “There are a couple of Blue Phones that are having some issues and IT is also looking into those.”
The system will soon be tested again on an undecided date.
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