Case Study: University of Saskatchewan achieves rapid campus-wide emergency alerts and streamlined preparedness with Alertus Technologies

University of Saskatchewan - Customer Case Study

The University of Saskatchewan, facing the prospect of a campus emergency after the Virginia Tech tragedy and responsible for nearly 30,000 students, faculty, and staff across 52 major buildings, needed a faster, unified way to alert its community. The university found that its internal text-messaging system wasn’t timely or integrated with existing assets, so it selected Alertus Technologies—deploying Alertus Desktop Notification, Alert Beacons®, and the Alertus Mobile app—to create a single, easy-to-activate mass notification capability.

Alertus Technologies integrated the university’s digital signs, 5,200 Cisco handsets, 8,534 PCs, and nearly 20,000 smartphones into the USafe Automated Alerting system, enabling one-point activation to targeted locations or campus-wide. The system triggers 45 Alert Beacons and produces full audit trails; measurable results include reducing end-to-end activation time from a 7-minute baseline to consistently under 2 minutes 30 seconds and supporting 14 lockdown drills (1,638 participants in 12 drills during 2015), significantly improving campus preparedness and response.

University of Saskatchewan

Brian Muchmore

Director of Protective Services & Safety Resources