U. of Texas contracts for alert system

SARASOTA, Fla., June 30 (UPI) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio has contracted Cooper Notification for wireless outdoor campus emergency notification technology.

Cooper Notification will install its Wireless Audio Visual Emergency System Mass Notification System at the University of Texas' San Antonio campus. University of Texas campus safety officials say the implementation of the new security communication technology is an effort to alert students and faculty of an emergency.

The Cooper Notification WAVES MNS broadcasts voice alerts notifying the 600-acre campus first with a siren alert, followed by a live or recorded voice message during an emergency.

"University of Texas at San Antonio is building a rigorous, multi-layered and multifaceted notification system," Donovan Agans, University of Texas at San Antonio director of business continuity and emergency management, said in a statement.

University officials are planning to complete installation by September 2008.