City College has a new emergency communication system to inform students, faculty and staff about disasters like last year’s wildfires. The system is called AlertU, and contacts users via instant messaging that can spread information like, well, wildfire.

AlertU is dedicated to information about emergencies only. No advertisements, no library late notices or reminders to enroll. Dan Watkins, director of information technology, assured that AlertU won’t be a conduit for spam.

“If you get a message from AlertU, count on it being serious,” Watkins suggested.

Watkins doesn’t think every student even needs to be signed up for it to be effective.

With today’s students active in sophisticated social networking, he reckons if only 1000 City College students registered with AlertU, any one individual could receive an emergency text and pass it on to hundreds more within a matter of minutes. A handful of initial recipients could lead to thousands more being informed.

“It was put into place with students in mind,” Watkins said. “I hope we never have to use it.”

Erik Fricke, director of Campus Security, introduced new students to the AlertU registration found on the school’s homepage during this semester’s orientation.

Fricke also gave out the number for campus security, advising that it be stored in cell phones under ‘SBCC EMERGENCY.’ However, such services tend to collapse under the high volume of calls inevitable during a major crisis.

In contrast, AlertU supersedes traditional methods by harnessing the distribution and immediacy of text messages.

“Calls tie up lines, text messages don’t,” explained Fricke.

AlertU could prove invaluable in a crisis. Aside from natural disasters like earthquakes and fires, Fricke’ security team will activate the service for situations isolated to campus, like students trapped in a building.

If anything happens on campus, Fricke asserted his team will be the first to know.

Fricke said his security team recognizes that some people might not be comfortable sharing their number, even though it’s a secured system.

So far, only 500 people are signed up with AlertU. There were 80 at the beginning of the semester and registration saw another 300 people – mostly students – sign up.

Watkins is hoping for a “viral marketing” approach, where department chairs and teachers will tell their students about the service, and students will tell their family and friends.

AlertU could save lives, but some phones need to be on at any given time for the system to be relevant. Fricke and Watkins both suggested the school modify its cell phone policy to that end.

AlertU can be found at http://www.sbcc.edu/alert/.