PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Providence College is one of seven colleges and universities nationwide participating in a pilot program to test a new state-of-the-art emergency alert system, designed by IntelliGuard Systems LLC. Through advances in micro technology, the IntelliGuard System delivers messages and instructions in less than 20 seconds through dedicated messaging devices, including the revolutionary RAVENAlert keychain.
The RAVENAlert keychain is a breakthrough in micro-technology, weighing less than an ounce and about two and a quarter inches long, it emits a loud audible alert upon receipt of a text message and was specifically designed so that it can be carried by students, staff and faculty alike, as a keychain or simply attached to a carabiner, backpack, purse or lanyard.
“For several years we have been searching for a way to connect to our classrooms,” says Providence College Director of Emergency Management Koren Kanadanian. “Rewiring buildings and FM signals from third party providers were not convincing solutions and text messaging using cellular phones is too slow because messages are delivered sequentially. As a result, students who are alerted first immediately call parents and friends, delaying messages to the rest of the students.”
“I wanted Providence to participate in the pilot program since the IntelliGuard System is the only system that sends messages simultaneously, thereby ensuring all persons with a RAVENAlert keychain or in close proximity to a RAVENAlert wall unit are immediately and simultaneously alerted in the event of an emergency.” Kanadanian continues. “The test was a complete success and the entire team was great. There were no problems with the installation of our dedicated network, the RAVENAlert key chains or the RAVENAlert wall units, all of which went off within 15 seconds of dispatch. Our campus is only a hundred acres, but we tested the IntelliGuard System in old underground tunnels, buildings with steel roofs and brick walls 18 inches thick, a police and fire department room with 400 Mhz to 800 Mhz equipment in full operation, and even dead cellular areas, and we could not be happier with the results.”
Kanadanian, who has a master’s degree in Emergency Management, served as both a military and civilian medic and worked as a policeman for 12 years before becoming director of Emergency Management at Providence. “Emergency management and the ability to alert students, faculty and staff alike is an unfortunate reality as business and workplace violence has become a severe problem,” observes Kanadanian. “A very appealing feature of the IntelliGuard System is that all network equipment is located right here on campus,” Kanadanian asserts. “I feel more secure knowing we control the sending of emergency messages.”
Jenna Richardson, vice president of Product Development for IntelliGuard Systems noted “the fact that Providence College was the first College in the nation to sign up for our pilot program speaks to its commitment to its students and new technologies that provide clear benefits. They immediately recognized the limitation of existing email and text messaging systems and could not have done more, or acted quicker, to consider, evaluate and now test all elements of our system and related messaging devices.”
IntelliGuard Systems May 26, 2010 press release
