Having Problems with Your MU Alert?

Have you signed up for the MU Alert but didn’t receive emergency cell phone text messages during snow delays this winter? Millersville is currently having difficulty with MU Alerts getting to Verizon users. The problem should be resolved early this summer.

“The problem seemed to be more than a ‘once and done’ technical glitch impacting Verizon customers, so we looked into it with our text messaging provider for the MU Alert system, Cooper Technologies,” said Patrick Weidinger, director of safety and environmental health.

“The problem appears to be between Cooper and Verizon. We have tested our system here at Millersville and it appears to be functioning fine,” said Weidinger. “For some reason, Cooper is receiving our MU Alert text messages, sending them along to Verizon and Verizon is not passing them along to MU Alert subscribers with Verizon accounts. This is a problem we have asked Cooper to resolve with Verizon, ASAP.”

Although the text messages may not work for Verizon users, until the problem is solved, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to subscribe to receive email MU Alerts, which will go through to the email address provided when signing up. The University website should also be checked for updates on emergencies or weather delays for events, such as graduation, and listen for emergency announcements made on the outdoor public address system. Also, people should listen for emergency information broadcasts that may come over their land lines through the reverse 9-1-1 system.

No emergency alert system can get the message to every student, faculty, staff or visitor at the University. The goal is to achieve a “critical mass” of notification so enough people are informed and can share the information with others who may not have a cell phone, text messaging, or have not heard the outdoor announcement or are away from a computer.

“We will continue to work on resolving this problem as quickly as possible and we will notify the campus community of the resolution,” said Weidinger.

For more information, or for questions about the MU alert, contact Weidinger at Patrick.Weidinger@millersville.edu or 717-872-3715.