Case Study: University of Salford achieves rapid emergency communications and enhanced student safety with CriticalArc SafeZone

University of Salford Invests in Student Safety and Wellbeing

The University of Salford, which looks after around 20,000 students, adopted CriticalArc’s SafeZone in 2020 to improve campus safety and ensure staff and students felt secure. When two major incidents in 2023 — a power outage and a flood at the Media City building — forced closures, the university faced the challenge of rapidly communicating restrictions, protecting people on site, and minimizing disruption to teaching and services.

CriticalArc’s SafeZone provided targeted and mass communications (SMS, desktop and email) and Omniguard team-coordination tools that gave the silver command immediate situational awareness and visibility of responder locations. Within minutes the team notified users, moved teaching online and to emergency studios, prevented large numbers arriving on site, and allowed staff to focus on repairs; engagement rose from more than 75% of staff and over a third of students to significantly higher levels, reducing disruption to the student experience and improving operational coordination.

University of Salford

Hannah Burchell

Director of Marketing, Communications & External Relations