Universities and Colleges Realize Increased Need for Multi-Dimensional Mobile Safety from Rave Wireless

Framingham, MA – June 18, 2009 – Rave Wireless, Inc., the leading provider of safety applications for mobile users, today announced that over 20 additional colleges and universities have launched Rave mobile safety applications this year, bringing the total number of participating higher education institutions to nearly 150. A number of these schools, along with several pre-existing Rave Alert clients, turned to Rave for the company’s “next generation” mobile safety solution – Rave Guardian. Howard University, Colorado State University, the College of DuPage and others will deploy this patented technology, which enables users to transform their mobile phones into location-aware personal safety devices to be monitored by and instantly connected with police.

About half of the new Rave-enabled schools also recognize the importance of multi-modal emergency notification systems and are deploying Rave Alert systems using multiple communications channels. While Short Message Service (SMS) notifications to cell phones continue to be the primary vehicle for delivering emergency alerts to tens-of-thousands of students within several minutes, many of Rave’s clients are also issuing alerts through voice messages, emails, RSS feeds, IM services such as AIM, and popular social networks, such as Facebook. Augmenting SMS emergency alerts with one or several other modes of communication increases the likelihood of reaching all members of the campus population. Rave Alert is a fully hosted system and can easily be integrated with universities’ information systems, allowing administrators to seamlessly issue emergency notifications through each institution’s selected communications channels.

“With a campus community of more than 15,000, efficient emergency communications and advanced personal safety tools are paramount to Howard University,” explains Chief of Police Lee James. “Rave Wireless’ Guardian and multi-modal alerting provide us with broader safety benefits that are easier to deploy and more reliable than technologies used in the past.”

Universities have begun the registration process for Rave, and feedback to the advanced mobile safety solutions has been strong. “Howard University is located in one of the most dynamic cities in the world, Washington, D.C., which presents unparalleled experiences and opportunities – as well as challenges unique to our urban setting,” comments Bryan Smart, President, Howard University Student Association. “We, Howard University students, are enthused by the partnership that has been developed with Howard and Rave, and we look forward to the enhancement of the state-of-the-art safety mechanisms, affording us greater peace-of-mind.”

Institutions view the Rave solution as a highly extensible mobile safety platform. “At Gustavus Adolphus College, we believe that cell phones can be powerful tools for both broadcast messaging and personal safety,” said Ray Thrower, Campus Safety Director at Gustavus Adolphus College, and former President of The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). “We selected Rave Wireless not only for its powerful multi-modal alerting solution, but also because we can easily and seamlessly add its award-winning personal safety application, Rave Guardian.”

Rave’s unparalleled mobile safety solutions, ease-of-use and reliability are capturing the attention of schools that conducted the most stringent review process prior to choosing a provider. “Henderson State University has long realized that the ubiquitous use of cell phones makes mobile safety the most effective way to reach students, faculty and staff during an emergency,” says Henderson President, Dr. Charles L. Welch. “With Rave Wireless, we now have the capability to distribute emergency messages in a matter of seconds to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, regardless of where everyone is at the time. Every second counts in life-threatening situations and we believe this system will greatly enhance the safety of our campus community.”

In addition to Henderson, schools launching multi-modal Rave Alert systems in fall ’09 include Kansas State, Northwest State Community College, Washburn University and William Penn University.

About Rave Wireless
Rave Wireless is the leading provider of mobile safety solutions for higher education institutions, government and enterprises. Rave builds, sells and supports an award-winning suite of safety applications including emergency notification systems and location-aware, personal safety tools such as Rave Alert, Rave Guardian and Rave Transit. More than 100 colleges and universities nationwide rely on Rave Wireless, including Montclair State University (NJ) who has won the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award and the Campus Technology Innovators Award for its implementation of Rave. Rave Wireless is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. Investors include Bain Capital Ventures, Sigma Partners, and RRE Ventures.

* * *

Media Contacts
Newsmaker Group:
Jennifer Fugel
Jfugel@newsmakergroup.com
845-657-4202

About EDUCAUSE Corporate Press Release Service Submit		Universities and Colleges Realize Increased Need for Multi-Dimensional Mobile Safety from Rave Wireless Framingham, MA – June 18, 2009 – Rave Wireless, Inc., the leading provider of safety applications for mobile users, today announced that over 20 additional colleges and universities have launched Rave mobile safety applications this year, bringing the total number of participating higher education institutions to nearly 150. A number of these schools, along with several pre-existing Rave Alert clients, turned to Rave for the company’s “next generation” mobile safety solution – Rave Guardian. Howard University, Colorado State University, the College of DuPage and others will deploy this patented technology, which enables users to transform their mobile phones into location-aware personal safety devices to be monitored by and instantly connected with police. About half of the new Rave-enabled schools also recognize the importance of multi-modal emergency notification systems and are deploying Rave Alert systems using multiple communications channels. While Short Message Service (SMS) notifications to cell phones continue to be the primary vehicle for delivering emergency alerts to tens-of-thousands of students within several minutes, many of Rave’s clients are also issuing alerts through voice messages, emails, RSS feeds, IM services such as AIM, and popular social networks, such as Facebook. Augmenting SMS emergency alerts with one or several other modes of communication increases the likelihood of reaching all members of the campus population. Rave Alert is a fully hosted system and can easily be integrated with universities’ information systems, allowing administrators to seamlessly issue emergency notifications through each institution’s selected communications channels. “With a campus community of more than 15,000, efficient emergency communications and advanced personal safety tools are paramount to Howard University,” explains Chief of Police Lee James. “Rave Wireless’ Guardian and multi-modal alerting provide us with broader safety benefits that are easier to deploy and more reliable than technologies used in the past.” Universities have begun the registration process for Rave, and feedback to the advanced mobile safety solutions has been strong. “Howard University is located in one of the most dynamic cities in the world, Washington, D.C., which presents unparalleled experiences and opportunities – as well as challenges unique to our urban setting,” comments Bryan Smart, President, Howard University Student Association. “We, Howard University students, are enthused by the partnership that has been developed with Howard and Rave, and we look forward to the enhancement of the state-of-the-art safety mechanisms, affording us greater peace-of-mind.” Institutions view the Rave solution as a highly extensible mobile safety platform. “At Gustavus Adolphus College, we believe that cell phones can be powerful tools for both broadcast messaging and personal safety,” said Ray Thrower, Campus Safety Director at Gustavus Adolphus College, and former President of The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). “We selected Rave Wireless not only for its powerful multi-modal alerting solution, but also because we can easily and seamlessly add its award-winning personal safety application, Rave Guardian.” Rave’s unparalleled mobile safety solutions, ease-of-use and reliability are capturing the attention of schools that conducted the most stringent review process prior to choosing a provider. “Henderson State University has long realized that the ubiquitous use of cell phones makes mobile safety the most effective way to reach students, faculty and staff during an emergency,” says Henderson President, Dr. Charles L. Welch. “With Rave Wireless, we now have the capability to distribute emergency messages in a matter of seconds to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, regardless of where everyone is at the time. Every second counts in life-threatening situations and we believe this system will greatly enhance the safety of our campus community.” In addition to Henderson, schools launching multi-modal Rave Alert systems in fall ’09 include Kansas State, Northwest State Community College, Washburn University and William Penn University. About Rave Wireless Rave Wireless is the leading provider of mobile safety solutions for higher education institutions, government and enterprises. Rave builds, sells and supports an award-winning suite of safety applications including emergency notification systems and location-aware, personal safety tools such as Rave Alert, Rave Guardian and Rave Transit. More than 100 colleges and universities nationwide rely on Rave Wireless, including Montclair State University (NJ) who has won the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award and the Campus Technology Innovators Award for its implementation of Rave. Rave Wireless is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. Investors include Bain Capital Ventures, Sigma Partners, and RRE Ventures. * * * Media Contacts Newsmaker Group: Jennifer Fugel Jfugel@newsmakergroup.com 845-657-4202 Login or register to post comments
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