McMaster's network of warning sirens and the new text messaging notification system were tested last week and the University's security staff is pleased with the results.

The recently-installed sirens were sounded for approximately 15 seconds during the Feb. 3 test. Siren towers are located across campus and will alert the community of a lockdown situation in the event of a real emergency. A voice message accompanies the sounding of the sirens.

"The sirens functioned properly and sounded as intended," says Terry Sullivan, director of Security and Parking services. "In the event of an actual emergency, the sirens will sound for longer than the 15 second test and will escalate in volume and pitch. The accompanying voice message was not as clear as it should be and we're taking steps to ensure better clarity in future."

The text messaging system was used to notify more than 2000 student subscribers about the test. Feedback from students indicated that some received the text message more than once, while others were asked to reply to the message.

"We'll fine tune the settings on the text messaging system to ensure fewer repeated messages and we'll eliminate the need to reply during future tests," Sullivan says. "Since last week's test an additional 300 students have subscribed to the text notification system and we encourage all others to do the same."

To subscribe to the student text message notification system visit MUGSI and click on the emergency mass notification link found under My Profile.