Case Study: Winthrop University achieves campus-wide emergency alert coverage and faster notifications with Alertus Technologies

Delivering Powerful, Simple, And Fast Emergency Notification

Winthrop University, a 6,241‑student campus in Rock Hill, SC with 543 faculty across 60 buildings and 418 acres, sought a more reliable emergency notification system after the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy. Winthrop found that email and SMS alone couldn’t reach enough people quickly, so the university turned to Alertus Technologies and its Alertus emergency notification system (including Alert Beacons and Alertus Desktop Notification) to provide a multi‑tiered solution.

Alertus Technologies installed wall‑mounted Alert Beacons with sirens, strobes and text displays and integrated the system with campus digital signage, desktop pop‑ups and existing SMS to create redundant coverage. The Alertus deployment delivers campus‑wide desktop alerts in a matter of seconds, fills gaps when cell or infrastructure fail, is customizable for building‑level actions (including potential door‑lock integration), and ensures timely notification across Winthrop’s 418‑acre, 60‑building campus for more than 6,200 students and staff.

Winthrop University

Frank Zebedis

Chief of Campus Police