IOWA LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE MOVES FORWARD WITH MEGAPHONE CAMPUS ALERT™ TO COMMUNICATE WITH STUDENTS
(Alerts during emergencies will be sent directly to students' phones)

Iowa Lakes Community College and Megaphone Campus Alert™ announced today a partnership to deliver text messages and audio alerts to students’ phones during times of emergency. As students return to college this fall, they will be enrolled with Megaphone Campus Alert™ at no cost to them.

"Each student will be able to register their cell phone or land line, and instantly be informed when emergencies happen." Delaine Hiney, Executive Director of Facilities Management explains. "It’s reassuring to be able to offer instant communication like this to the students, faculty and staff on our campuses."

And there are other benefits to working with this company.

"Megaphone Campus Alert™ is a local company – and it was designed by some of our past students," Hiney said.

In addition to emergency alerts, students can also choose to receive non-emergency messages, staying informed when classes are cancelled due to inclement weather or receiving campus updates.

"Students are sensitive to Spam," said Joe Gamble, one of five partners who developed Megaphone, "So we made sure to create a solution where extracurricular notices are received only after an opt-in request."

According to a national survey, 90 percent of college students have cell phones, and 70 percent use text messaging. However, Megaphone serves all students, including those who don't receive text messaging. Unlike most alert companies which deliver messages solely through text messaging, Megaphone Campus Alert™ broadcasts messages as text, audio and e-mail. Recipients can receive important information on their home phone, office or even as audio to their cell phone if they are not comfortable with text messaging.

"Delivering the message directly to the phone allows information to spread quickly and accurately," Gamble stated. "You want to reach as many people as possible as fast as possible."

Megaphone Campus Alert™ allows instant emergency notifications, weather alerts, cancellations, and more to be sent to an entire campus population instantly. This intuitive communication tool allows alerts to be securely broadcast to mobile phones (SMS text or audio), land lines (audio only), and e-mail (text and an attached file) from an easy-to-use web-based console.

Joe Gamble, Casey Call and Joe Call, all former students of Iowa Lakes Community College, are the developers of Megaphone Campus Alert™, along with Mark Gierach and Bernie Berg. You can learn more about Megaphone Campus Alert™ at www.megaphonesoftware.com.