Security Working on Mass Communications App

Projected to be completed in the summer of 2025, Marist College Security will release an app that students can download on their phones, allowing for a more efficient bridge of communication between students and the Office of Safety and Security.

The app will provide students with resources such as Friend Walk, weather updates, the ability to report a tip and a mobile blue light feature.

With all the resources the app offers, Director of Safety and Security Daniel Gough believes that the most important feature is the ability to send out mass notifications at a faster rate.

“We went into our mass notification system and, through a single interface, sent an alert via multiple alert modes. The one that reaches the quickest is the safety app,” said Gough.

The technology is called the Common Alert Protocol, and Gough has implemented it at many schools throughout his career. Gough also emphasized the importance of other features, such as the mobile blue light.

“Right now, we have what the campus calls blue lights; however, they’re really just call boxes,” Gough said. “That’s an antiquated technology because the emergency has to happen right where that call box is or in close proximity.”

By clicking the mobile blue light feature on the app, students can send an immediate alert to the security office, along with their exact location. This feature will allow students to report an emergency from anywhere on campus without needing to be in a specific location.

Another security aspect that would be improved with the Common Alert Protocol is the Friend Walk system.

Friend Walk is a service Marist Security offers where, if someone feels unsafe, they can call Security and have someone walk with them to their destination.

When using this feature, students can click the Friend Walk button, which will automatically bring up their phone directory, allowing them to select a friend. This will send an alert to the selected friend, as well as to the security dispatch, which will deploy an officer to follow them.

Lucian Pezzillo ‘27 believes that a security app would give students access to features they never knew existed.

“If I needed something from security, I guess I would just email them,” Pezzillo said. “Most of the time, I don’t even notice when I get an email from the security office.”

The Common Alert Protocol aims to provide Marist students with an easy, all-in-one platform to create a more efficient connection between students and the Office of Safety and Security.