9/23/2008
Furman University in Greenville, SC has gone public with its installation of ADT Security Services' Select Link, an emergency communications system that can simultaneously send text or voice messages to cell phones, desktop and laptop computers, PDAs, and digital pagers.
9/19/2008
In the United States, IT spending in education will reach $47.7 billion by the end of this year and is expected to top $56 billion by 2012, according to a new report from Compass Intelligence, an IT consultancy and market research firm. This growth in education--both K-12 and higher ed--is being fueled in particular by expenditures in telecommunications, collaborative technologies, and outsourced IT services.
9/12/2008
PIER Systems has launched version 6.0 of the PIER--Public Information Emergency Response--system. The intent of the PIER program is to allow public affairs staff to draft, edit, and send out a message to multiple audiences directly, without having to go through conventional mass communication channels. PIER also allows users to send out notifications such as SMS text messages, manage public inquiries and respond to media effectively.
9/12/2008
Valcom, which sells telephone integrated paging systems, and Keltron, which sells life safety event management systems, have formed a partnership to offer Total Life Safety Communications System, an integrated, wireless system that provides extended life safety communications for organizations with multiple buildings.
9/10/2008
Vanderbilt University and Medical Center (VUMC) will be upgrading its wireless connectivity on campus with the help of Sprint, a long-time provider of wireless services to the school. Sprint will expand the existing system, including additional network coverage on both the Nationwide Sprint Network and the Nextel National Network covering eight buildings.
9/8/2008
Delaware State University in Dover will use the Honeywell Instant Alert Plus notification service to help communicate with students, faculty, and staff in an emergency. The university previously relied on e-mail, fliers, and door-to-door outreach to circulate information. With the new system, the school will be able to reach people both on and off campus via phone, cell phone, pager, e-mail, or PDA. In a statement, Honeywell said the service can send up to 175,000 30-second phone calls and 125,000 text messages in 15 minutes.
9/4/2008
Problems with cell phone coverage aren't uncommon on college campuses. There are two main reasons: The beefy structure of historic buildings can block cellular reception within walls, and, on more remote campuses outside cities, signal coverage can be light.
8/28/2008
The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC) has awarded a statewide emergency alert notification contract to Waterfall Mobile. The contract establishes Waterfall's AlertU as an approved technology through the official non-profit foundation for the California Community College (CCC) system office. Through this partnership, individual colleges may directly implement emergency communication services, eliminating lengthy technology evaluation and RFP processes.
8/28/2008
King's College and Arizona State University have switched to Omnilert's e2Campus for emergency notification. Omnilert also has introduced a new program called the ENS Conversion Service that allows schools to bulk upload data from their previous emergency notification system into e2Campus at no charge.
8/27/2008
Two Pennsylvania teaching colleagues with an interest in music and technology are bringing remote experts into classrooms at almost no cost, using Skype's free videoconferencing technology.
8/26/2008
Bio-Key International has announced the release of two new emergency alert and management solutions for the education market. MobileSRO is designed specifically for the K-12 environment, while MobileCampus caters to higher education and other campus-based organizations.
8/18/2008
Butler University said it has deployed the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway-Virtual Edition as a hybrid solution with the Messaging Security Gateway appliance to address anti-spam and anti-virus protection. The school has actually used the Messaging Security Gateway hardware appliance since 2004 to defend against inbound messaging threats such as spam, viruses, and denial-of-service attacks.
8/13/2008
The University of Kansas Medical Center has installed a new system from Alertus Technologies that notifies students, faculty, staff and visitors on campus in the case of an emergency. The primary communication tools in the new system are wall-mounted "beacons," which function as a way for the KU Medical Center Police Department to communicate with the campus in real time. The units are located in every classroom and on every floor in university buildings. If activated, the beacons display flashing red lights and sound sirens, and directions are given on the units' text boards.
7/22/2008
Applied Voice & Speech Technologies (AVST) and Mirapoint announced they've formed a strategic partnership to deliver a unified messaging solution that addresses the needs of both the enterprise and education sectors.
7/21/2008
Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the popular BlackBerry handset, on Friday issued a patch to plug a vulnerability in its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) solution. The vulnerability could allow hackers to enter into a network via a maliciously crafted PDF file.
7/17/2008
Unisys announced Monday that it is offering companies a free 30-day unified communications trial using Microsoft solutions. The offer is currently available through Microsoft's sales personnel.
7/16/2008
With 2.5 million students and 75,000 faculty, the California Community College system has considerable shopping clout with vendors. Using those numbers to its advantage, the CCC has created an immense and cost-effective state-wide Web conferencing system for its 109 member colleges.
7/7/2008
Joliet Junior College will be deploying the MIR3 inCampusAlert emergency notification service for its main campus in Joliet, IL and its extended campuses and extension centers. inCampusAlert allows for dissemination of information to and from cell phones, e-mail, pagers, land lines, and SMS.
6/11/2008
Two noted security experts examine the characteristics of an effective campus mass notification system.
6/9/2008
During his keynote address at Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) Monday, CEO Steve Jobs debuted the company's new iPhone 3G, an update to the popular mobile phone and computing device set for delivery July 11. Developers also took the stage during the keynote to show off new technologies arriving for the platform.
6/9/2008
Looking for a little privacy in your life? If so, you might want to leave that cell phone behind. Research released last week by Northeastern University showed not only how easy it is to track individuals by their cell phone usage, but how easy it is to track massive groups of people as well--all without their consent. The research has drawn the ire of those both inside and outside academia for the act of breaching these individuals' privacy and for the implications for further enabling the surveillance culture. But Northeastern is defending the research, saying that the privacy of those studied was of the utmost concern.
3/25/2008
In 2006, the University of New Mexico began implementing its IP communications network, which will eventually support 22,000 voice terminals (IP, TDM and analog), connecting administration, faculty and students, as well as the UNM Hospital campus and Health Science Center.
3/24/2008
PosTrack Technologies has signed Siemens Communications to provide the backbone for PosTrack's hosted VoIP solutions for K-12 and higher education. PosTrack will use Siemens' OpenScape Voice and HiPath MobileConnect technologies to deliver unified communications and mobile capabilities for schools.
3/20/2008
The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has launched an unusual collaborative research effort with the corporate world. The Rochester, NY school has entered into an agreement with telecommunications company PAETEC for the first project under RIT's new "Corporate R&D" program, in which faculty and graduate students will conduct research for companies, with the companies themselves retaining intellectual property rights to the research developed.
3/19/2008
Microsoft licensed two of Adobe's software products for use with smartphones that run Microsoft Windows Mobile operating systems, according to an announcement issued by Adobe Monday.