By Christiane Newell
A new security feature you have probably seen around campus is the emergency warning system call box.
These boxes are located in multiple locations around campus. There is one on each floor in Flowe, Pressley, Frazier, Finley, Ross, Davidson, and all the floors in Main except the first.
The security systems serve many purposes on our campus. In the event of an emergency, anyone can press the glowing blue help button, and an automated alert will be sent to the public safety officers’ radios to notify them that there is an emergency. Whoever pushed the button will then be connected to a public safety officer, and they will be able to engage in a two-way conversation.
The emergency call boxes can also used by the University. “If there’s an emergency that we have to notify all of the campus, we can use those call boxes to send out an alert to the entire campus,” said Michael John, Director of Public Safety.
An automated voice will be speaking from the boxes to alert the campus of emergency situations, such as severe weather, or if there is an intruder on campus.
“It’s part of the ongoing effort to make the campus safer, and make sure that students are notified in a timely manner for any major incidents,” said Tim Jessup, Assistant Director of Public Safety.
Security says there are plans to expand the emergency warning systems to cover the entire campus in the future.