In reaction to recent tragic events, many colleges and universities have implemented emergency notification systems, only to find that the reliability and message delivery rates of those systems are inadequate, and getting students to register can be challenging. According to the company,
Rave Wireless' latest version of Rave Alert takes reliability and reach to the next level, further differentiating Rave solutions as the best options for higher education institutions that make student safety a top priority. University clients of Rave are beginning to report new milestones and achievements that demonstrate the effectiveness of Rave's emergency notification system in addressing these industry issues.For example, Colorado State University has recently achieved nearly 90% student participation and extremely high rates of delivery. Colorado State is collecting students' mobile phone numbers in conjunction with the student class registration process, on an opt-in basis. "Class registration is a process that students cannot ignore and therefore assures us they will become aware of the Rave Alert service," according to Jose Valdes, associate director for telecommunications, Colorado State University. "Rave is a great partner because they have been responsive to our processes and suggestions. Rave has collaborated with us in development of a system that allows us to upload, validate and update faculty, staff and student subscriptions to Rave Alert. We now have about 90% of our student population enrolled in Rave Alert with the means to analyze system test results. We're very pleased with the reliability and improved performance of Rave Alert. During recent tests of our emergency notification system, Rave delivered nearly 24,000 text messages in a matter of minutes. Without the collaboration and capabilities of Rave Alert, we would have not achieved the delivery rates we are observing."
While the concept is simple and straightforward, broadcast alerting is a complex business behind the scenes. Rave Wireless delivers best-in-class reliability and performance by virtue of its fully-redundant infrastructure that includes six data centers, multiple SMS aggregators with automated failover capabilities, and advanced monitoring systems that constantly verify alert delivery across the major mobile carriers. Rave Alert delivers mobile text alerts to all mobile carriers across the U.S.
"Emergency alerting is serious business and we've invested millions of dollars to make sure our systems are the most reliable and provide the best performance for our clients," said Raju Rishi, chief strategy officer and co-founder, Rave Wireless, Inc. "Rave Alert is a product of partnership. We learn from our clients and they learn from us, and together we make a lot of people safer and more secure."
The latest version of Rave Alert provides:
* Redundant voice message delivery across a carrier-grade SS7 network (more reliable than Voice over IP) at extremely high volumes
* Enhanced data upload capabilities
* SMS messaging along multiple redundant networks to ensure deliverability
* Enhanced messaging to other on-campus alerting systems via standard alerting protocols
* Advanced monitoring systems that verify alert delivery across the major mobile carrier networks
* Professional student marketing templates to maximize enrollment in optional programs
For colleges and universities looking to ensure their campus is fortified with emergency alerting capabilities of the highest standard, Rave Wireless is issuing a "Rave Alert Challenge" enabling any higher education institution to participate in a "complimentary test drive" of Rave Alert. Rave will set-up the system, add users and run a free test. Interested parties may apply to participate by completing the form at
http://www.ravewireless.com/contact.shtml. Participants must be from U.S. colleges and universities and must complete the trial by March 31, 2008.
