Gazette
masthead
   About The Gazette Search Back Issues Contact Us    
The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University February 25, 2008 | Vol. 37 No. 23
 
Emergency Alert Text-Message System to be Tested Wednesday

The Johns Hopkins Emergency Alerts system is conducting a test on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

At about 1 p.m., a text message test will be sent to all cell phones and mobile devices registered for JHEA users at the Homewood, Eastern, Mount Washington and Peabody campuses.

A group of JHEA users has been recruited to report whether and when they receive the test message and has received instructions separately. Those not in that group need not do anything when they receive the test message.

The Feb. 27 message will be clearly labeled as a test.

This test is a follow-up to one that occurred in late November. That test uncovered some problems, which were then resolved. There were no problems in a subsequent JHEA test at the East Baltimore campus. The test for Homewood, Eastern, Mount Washington and Peabody is being repeated to double-check that the system is working as intended.

JHEA was launched last semester to give university security offices a fast way to alert students, faculty and staff when a potentially life-threatening emergency is under way.

In a real emergency, security would send a text message to JHEA-registered phones, giving users critical early warning on what was happening and where. Since text messages can be no more than 160 characters, the alert would also tell users where to get more information, on, for instance, the university's telephone hot line or Web site.

Members of the university community can still register for JHEA in time for the test. Log into the my.johnshopkins.edu portal, then go to the myJhed tab, click on "update your Emergency Alert information" and provide your cell phone number. Participants must agree to the program's terms and conditions, which include the responsibility to pay their mobile service provider's usual charges, if any, for text messages received.

Complete information on how to register for JHEA is available online at http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/today/text_alert.pdf.

GO TO FEBRUARY 25, 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
GO TO THE GAZETTE FRONT PAGE.


The Gazette | The Johns Hopkins University | Suite 540 | 901 S. Bond St. | Baltimore, MD 21231 | 443-287-9900 | gazette@jhu.edu