News

Penn State Creates 'PSUTXT' Service Using e2Campus SMS Text Messaging System

PSUTXT service will send news, emergency info to students' cell phones and mobile devices

LEESBURG, VA - August 16, 2006 - Omnilert LLC, the leading provider of selective mass communications, today announced The Pennsylvania State University has chosen e2Campus for creating a revolutionary new wireless campus news service to be offered to students, faculty and staff. Penn State Live now sends instant SMS text messages of news and emergency information to subscribers' mobile phones using the e2Campus Web-based communication system.

"Penn State has a news Web site, Penn State Live, and more than three dozen companion listserv-based Penn State Newswires that offer the latest news and information about Penn State to more than 365,000 subscribers around the world. We were on the cutting-edge of electronic communications when we developed that system more than 10 years ago, and it's continuing to grow," said Annemarie Mountz, assistant director of Public Information for Internet communications at Penn State. "In fact, roughly 6,000 incoming students subscribed to our Student Newswire in just the past two months. However, the way people -- especially young people -- communicate continues to change. Text-messaging on cell phones has become the communications vehicle of choice for many students, so giving them the Penn State news they want through a text-messaging news service is the next logical step in the evolution of the Live/Newswire system."

Mountz continued, "e2Campus is really simple to use. We log into the SMS system on our Penn State Live site to create new SMS messages, type in the message, click on the categories and hit send. Only the people who signed up for the selected categories will get the message. The initial response has been great." To learn more about Penn State Live, visit http://live.psu.edu online.

About e2Campus
Endorsed by Security On Campus Inc. and used by schools around the country, e2Campus is the Web-based mass notification system that enables school officials to self-administer and send time-sensitive messages for a fraction of the cost and complexity of existing notification solutions. There is no traditional software to install, no hardware to buy and no additional phone lines needed. A school can set up a secure notification system in minutes to send routine, urgent or emergency notifications to their entire campus community or groups, such as multiple campuses, residence halls, staff-only or sports news. e2Campus instantly and simultaneously sends mass alerts to a subscriber's mobile phone (via SMS text message), BlackBerry, smart phone, wireless PDA, text pager, e-mail account and relevant Web page. To learn more, visit www.e2Campus.com online.

About Omnilert, LLC
Omnilert LLC is the leading provider of selective mass communications for sending time-sensitive information to large groups of people. The self-service, Web-based system enables a single person to communicate timely information to thousands of people anywhere, anytime, on any device. It is ideal for announcing school closings, game cancellations, weather warnings, terrorist alerts, and marketing promotions. The system is built around a reliable SMS text messaging system that sends content directly to a mobile phone, as well as an e-mail address, Web page, pager or wired phone. Omnilert Text and Voice solutions are sold under the names e2Campus, Amerilert, RainedOut and through resellers. The privately held company is headquartered in Leesburg, Va., and at http://www.omnilert.com online.