July 19, 2004

04-109

Charles Harmon
Director of University Relations

Antonio D. Adams
Student Assistant

VSU Installing New Emergency Phones

A VSU Student uses the new phone equipment.

The Public Safety Department at Valdosta State University is in the process of installing 15 new emergency phones across the campus as part of the continuing effort to enhance student safety and security on campus. The first of the 15 has been installed between Ashley and Converse Halls.

"Rapid and clear communication is critical in the case of an emergency," said Corporal Dennis Nealon, VSU's Crime Prevention Officer. He said that the university has twenty-three strategically placed emergency phones on campus to ensure quick and easy access to Public Safety. Nealon said the new phones will be used to replace some of the older phones as well as positioned at new locations campus wide.

The new phones are vivid yellow and stand 9ft. tall which will make them more visible than the older phones. All models offer rapid, one-button call access and a separate speaker and microphone for hands free, two-way communication. The phones are utilized for both information access and emergency notification.
Nealon said the new phones are a lot clearer than the old phones.

"They are equipped with sensors that activate a light after dark and a blue strobe light when in use." He said surveillance cameras are located in the vicinity near each phone.