Take It From the Experts When Crafting Your Messages

Keep the length of the text messages short:
“Depending on how the carrier’s system works, some of them allow you to enter only 110 characters (including spaces),” says Rabe.

UCLA allows for 160 characters. All that is left open to be filled in at the last minute is the location (which takes 15 characters).

An example of a text message used by UCLA (and other campuses around the nation):

• Bruin Alert
• Emergency Message – Campus Fire
• Major fire at (location). Avoid area, evacuate nearby buildings. Tune to AM 1630 or www.ucla.edu for more information.

Audible, written announcements should be short too:
“Keep them to 30 words or less because when stress is high, people’s comprehension levels actually go down,” says 3n’sDirector of Marketing Linda Souza. “Normally, try to keep the messages to a sixth grade reading level or below to account for differences in your audiences as well as the stress factors.”

Communications department must vet messages:
Most experts agree that the public information officer (PIO)/communications department should review all emergency communications (preferably ahead of time, before any emergency occurs.)

It is also important for the individuals creating the messages to be trained and have experience in writing emergency announcements. “A trained professional knows what information has to be included in every message,” says Rabe. “When you are in a time sensitive situation and you’re not used to crafting messages, you may forget something that may lead to 10, 15, 40 phone calls into 9-1-1. [During an emergency] is not when you need to have your phone lines tied up.”

Emergency alerts should be location-specific:
According to Samuel Shanes, CEO of Talk-a-Phone, a message for one area of campus might not be appropriate for another. An institution should have a system that can address the different needs of different areas of a campus.

“If something spilled in the lab in Smith Hall, you would want to send a message to people on the outside of the building that says, ‘Don’t enter Smith Hall.’ For people on the inside, the campus professionals need to make a decision. They might tell people who are in certain rooms not to go into the halls but to close the doors, turn off the ventilation system and open the windows.”

Test the system often (but not too often):
“Test the system regularly!” says Rabe and many other mass notification experts. This will help you to:

• Cleanse the system of bad phone numbers
• Inform your community about how you will be communicating with them and what to expect
• Raise awareness about the issues/benefits of each communication method
• Refine your emergency communication plan
• Identify for your community who your credible sources are on campus should an incident occur
• Know exactly how to use the system should something happen rather than becoming familiar with the system during a time-sensitive situation

To view charts, please click here.

Related Articles:

• Can You Hear Me Now?
• Text Message Troubleshooting: 4 Challenges Your Campus Should Address
• Best Practices Breakdown
• Web Exclusive: Sample Opt-Out Language
• Multiple Modes of Mass Notification Make Sense
• Virginia Tech 1 Year Later: How Campuses Have Responded

Robin Hattersley Gray is executive editor of Campus Safety. She can be reached at robin.gray@bobit.con.

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