Students and staff at Oakland University, Rochester, Mich., will now receive a text message and a voice mail under a new alert system that has gone into effect. The alerts are part of the school’s comprehensive emergency communications plan to notify students, faculty and staff as quickly as possible if an emergency situation occurs on campus.

“The text message system is designed to quickly alert community members who are not sitting in front of a computer or desk phone,” said Oakland University Police Chief Samuela Lucido.

To take advantage of the service, students and employees must provide contact information, including their ID information and e-mail address, via the school’s Emergency Preparedness Web site. Voice alerts are available for those without text messaging capability.

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