Safety Alert Test with New Desktop Notifications on Thursday
Cal Poly Pomona will test its Safety Alert System on Thursday, at 9:45 a.m. Students, faculty and staff should expect a brief test message on their cell, home and office phones, as well as an email. The test will also include the initial use of the Alertus Desktop notification system, which sends safety messages to campus-owned computers equipped with Alertus software.
Installation of the Alertus system is a work in progress, so not everyone using a campus computer in classrooms, computer labs and faculty/staff offices will see the full-screen alert. If you are using a campus computer and do not receive an Alertus message during the test, visit the Cal Poly Pomona Help Desk’s Alertus page and follow the simple diagnostic instructions. If at that point you determine that the computer does not have Alertus software, contact the Help Desk via a link on the page.
Because people spend significant time in front of a computer, Alertus Desktop Alert allows public safety and communications officials to reach a large audience virtually instantaneously. The university received the software at no cost through the Alertus Desktop Grant Initiatve. A pilot study conducted last spring demonstrated that Alertus messages can arrive on computers faster than messages to campus phones or email. During the test on Thursday – and in the event of a real emergency – the alert will fill the monitor. To remove it, click on the “acknowledge” button on the screen.
During an emergency or urgent situation, the Safety Alert System simultaneously sends out messages to phones, email, text/SMS and TTY/TDD devices. In order to receive the messages, faculty, staff and students need to provide up-to-date contact information in BroncoDirect.
The university tests the Safety Alert System once during the fall, winter and spring quarters to familiarize the campus community with this important communication vehicle, as well as to train staff in using the system. The alerts are sent only during emergencies and scheduled tests, and never for routine messages. The contact information you provide in BroncoDirect will remain confidential and will not be released outside of the university.
