August 28, 2006 -- The Public Safety & Transportation Department at the Berkeley campus of the University of California announces the inception of a new security notification system. “Safety, Transportation & Access Reports” (ST&AR) is a state-of-the-art system, powered by the same desktop technology used by the BBC, CNN and The Wall Street Journal, that will put real-time public safety and transportation alerts directly onto the computer desktops of students, faculty, staff, the local community, parents and anyone else interested in what is happening at Berkeley.
When a ST&AR alert appears, users will be able to link to the Public Safety & Transportation (PS&T) websites to receive relevant information concerning public safety, parking, emergency preparedness and the campus transportation system. Such an immediate transmission of information will provide an unprecedented opportunity for the entire university community to actively participate in enhancing access to the campus, and campus safety.
The technology, designed and implemented by the British company, Skinkers, represented in the U.S and Canada by California-based Global ALL-MEDIA, is anonymous for the user. The alerts, which bypass all open applications, are deliverd via a one-megabyte Windows-based application and are downloaded from the Berkeley website. Users then designate their campus profiles (i.e., student, faculty), allowing PS&T to transmit targeted alerts to those individuals affected. Skinkers’ messages are delivered via an encrypted channel directly from the Parking & Transportation, the Office of Emergency Preparedness or the University Police to the relevant users.
The ST&AR program uses a 7-pointed star icon in the system tray of a Windows-based computer (the area at the far-right of the “start” tool-bar).
Victoria L. Harrison, Chief of Police for UC Berkeley, said of the new program:
“CAL is a large campus in an urban setting. We believe this program of desktop notification will contribute to a safer campus environment and establish a more direct and immediate link with CAL students and the campus community in general. This new system will help keep our community on top of important security issues as they occur, and provide our community with critical information quickly.”
Jesse E. Levine, President and CEO of Global ALL-MEDIA said: “Skinkers technology provides a unique communication vehicle for universities, where so many people are online. ST&AR will create faster links to members of the CAL community.”
Download ST&AR
---------------------------------------------------------
About Skinkers, Limited:
Skinkers' permission-based push-communication technology delivers desktop alert and notification solutions to clients in key market sectors including: RSS delivery & News Alerts, Marketing Promotions, Customer Relationship Management, Corporate Communications and Security Notifications. Clients include; The Wall Street Journal, CNN International, the BBC, The Financial Times, Nortel Networks, London Stock Exchange, and Cisco Systems. For more information, visit www.skinkers.com.
