CUPERTINO, Calif., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- As the nation is reeling
 from the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, it has come to light that
 the system for announcing a crisis on campus may have been flawed, and that
 lives might have been saved if students and faculty had been made aware of
 the problems more quickly and more broadly.
     While we may never know if the one to two hour delay and the use of
 only an email message contributed to the casualty toll, we do know that
 there are practical and cost-effective ways of notifying people of crises
 more effectively. One of these is the use of an outbound messaging system,
 like that from Voicent Communications (http://www.voicent.com), which can
 be preprogrammed with telephone numbers, including those for mobile phones,
 to distribute an alert message to many people very quickly wherever they
 are.
     Voicent broadcast by phone autodialer technology allows any
 organization, business or school to send a recorded emergency message to
 all of the affected people without a delay, and with very limited manpower.
 There is even remote access capability. Numbers need only to be programmed
 into the system initially, and updated as needed to assure efficiency.
 There is no limitation on the number of telephone numbers that can be
 programmed.
     With the trend toward mobile communications, even as a substitute for
 landline telephones, people can be reached wherever they are and steered
 away from problems and emergencies. The capability to connect is
 extraordinary and, when used discriminately for emergencies only, a message
 will be respected rather than being ignored like a broadcast email message.
 Organizations such as FEMA are currently using Voicent solutions for
 emergency alert of hurricane threats.
     The system is easy to set up and inexpensive -- from $300 for a basic
 system. There is no proprietary hardware required, no monthly service fee,
 and no per call charge.
     With this cost effective system, no community, school or organization
 should ever be without the means to communicate emergencies effectively at
 the most stressed-filled times. For more information, check out the Voicent
 Communications website at http://www.voicent.com.
      Contact:
      Joseph Wood
      Voicent Communications, Inc.
      650 472-1518
      Web: http://www.voicent.com
 
 

SOURCE Voicent Communications