Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, stretches across more than 5,000 acres and includes more than 2.9 million square feet of facilities. More than 11,000 students are in residence at the university. Not surprisingly, communications presents challenges for campus leaders.
Several years ago, Liberty deployed a Federal Signal safety and security system to provide outdoor warning across a campus-wide network of public warning sirens. To extend the reach of the network to indoor campus areas and to individual students, the university recently upgraded the siren network with the Federal Signal SmartMSG mission-critical communications system.
"The Federal Signal safety and security system enables us to reach out directly to students and staff in the event of a campus incident. The Federal Signal SmartMSG enhancement provides a comprehensive way to protect people — every day,” said Richard Hinkley, Chief of the Liberty University Police Department.
Liberty University upgraded their campus and safety security system to connect with mobile devices, landline phones and e-mail addresses across the campus community. From a Federal Signal hosted website, faculty, staff and students can now opt-in to receive messages on a variety of devices, including mobile phones, home phones and e-mail devices.
"Federal Signal's comprehensive alerting and notification capabilities offer leading educational institutions a powerful way to quickly communicate across campus communities,” said John Von Thaden, Director of alerting and notification systems for Federal Signal Corporation's Public Safety Systems Division.