Emergency siren test today

When UNC’s new sirens are tested today, officials will have a better sense of how effective their overall emergency alert plan is.

The four sirens will be tested for range, clarity and overall working order. They will broadcast warning and all-clear sounds. Students do not need to respond.

After evaluating the results of the test, modifications to the sirens will be made, if necessary.

But the sirens are just one aspect of UNC’s Alert Carolina program, which Chancellor James Moeser and other officials are encouraging the UNC community to sign up for.

Alert Carolina and UNC Mobile both provide an emergency alert text message service, but the two differ in the other services they provide, said Brian Payst, director of technology and systems support for the Division of Student Affairs at UNC.

Alert Carolina uses text messages, e-mails, voice mails and sirens to alert the UNC community of a threat to campus. UNC Mobile offers students access to applications, such as Blackboard, over their phone.

Information Technology Services’ control center can send thousands of text messages a minute after the Department of Public Safety deems it necessary to send one, Payst said.

Neither program sends text messages faster than the other. The speed at which a cell phone receives a message depends on the service provider and whether the phone is on and within service range.

“If you get any kind of service at all, you’re going to get a text message,” Payst said. “It is more of a reliable delivery method than a cell phone call.”

Because of a lack of interest, Payst said UNC Mobile likely will be phased out this summer. The numbers registered with UNC Mobile will be added to Alert Carolina’s list.

To ensure that everyone on campus quickly receives the emergency alert, the message is broadcast in a variety of ways besides text messages, said Mike McFarland, director of University communications.

“No one of those other methods are perfect; there are limitations to all of them,” he said. “Text messaging is just one part of what will make the whole thing successful.”

On March 3, Vanderbilt University launched AlertVU, which requires users to sign up for all methods.

But though UNC has pushed text messaging as a key method of communication, Johnny Vanderpool, emergency management coordinator, said text messaging is the worst way to send an alert.

“You really need to sign up for as many forms of communication as possible,” he said, adding that carriers such as Verizon, Sprint and AT&T put text messages at the bottom of their lists of things to send.

“We’re at the mercy of the carriers,” Vanderpool said.

Virginia Tech’s VT Alerts allow students to register for up to three of the possible contact methods: text messages, instant messages and calls to home, office or mobile numbers and e-mails. Those registered can rank their contact methods in a preferred order of delivery.

Larry Hincker, associate vice president of university relations at Virginia Tech, said each type of alert takes a different amount of time to reach the community.

An e-mail to 36,000 people takes less than five minutes to send. The alert text message can take up to 18 minutes to send to 21,000 registered phone numbers – a rate of about 1,200 messages per minute.

The rate can vary because there are so many different servers through which to send the messages.

“It really all depends,” Hincker said. “We can do a notification from our primary vehicles in less than 20 minutes.”

UNC is scheduling a test for the text messages this spring.

Alert Carolina will only activate if there is a test or in the event of a real emergency, which includes an armed and dangerous person on or near campus, a major chemical hazard or a tornado sighting.

Although he did not have numbers of how many people are registered, McFarland said there has been a positive response to the appeal to get members of the UNC community signed up for Alert Carolina.

“We certainly hope that continues,” he said.

Click here to hear what the sirens sound like.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.