Emergency communications system test Nov. 9

The University of Maine will conduct a full-scale emergency communications system test on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Outdoor sirens, which represent an integral part of the system, will sound for several minutes shortly after 12 noon. Those sirens are audible throughout the UMaine campus and, under certain conditions, in parts of the surrounding communities.

UMaine created a multifaceted emergency communications system in 2007. It allows UMaine safety and communications professionals to quickly notify the community during emergency situations by using several mechanisms to communicate vital information.

When the system is activated, several notifications occur in quick order:

•     a posting on the university’s primary Web page and several other UMaine pages
•     a telephone recording at 581-INFO
•     a posting on First Class, the university’s email and online conferencing system
•     a message on the UMaine News Facebook page and Twitter feed
•     a text message sent to those who have subscribed to UMaine’s umaine.txt system

After those messages are created and delivered, police personnel will sound the sirens. In the UMaine system, the siren is a signal that people on campus should seek information through the Web, telephone, text message, social media or First Class.

Members of the UMaine community who have not yet subscribed to the umaine.txt text messaging system are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.

Oct. 21, 2011
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571