About emergency notifications at IU

• Overview
• Update your contact information
• IU Notify opt-out acknowledgment statement

Overview

In an emergency, Indiana University will send notifications to your campus phone number, primary IU email address, and any additional phone numbers and email addresses you have registered.

To provide the safest possible environment for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to Indiana University campuses, the university will strive to provide timely, reliable notifications by all possible means in the event of emergency. Generally, an emergency is any incident that involves death, serious injury, or threat of death or serious injury to people; significant damage to university facilities, research materials, property, and/or data; or significant disruption of university operations. University or campus administration will declare an emergency based on the circumstances of a particular situation.

IU uses a variety of methods to provide emergency and safety information, including sirens, public address, web pages, building stewards, residence hall assistants, broadcast and electronic media, and a consolidated communications system. Collectively, these capabilities are called "IU Notify". For more information about these services, as well as current emergency status or preparedness information for IU, see Emergencies, Continuity & Planning.

The communication system permits broadcast messages to be quickly sent as voice calls to landline and mobile phones, as text messages to mobile phones, and as email messages to university and external email accounts. This system will be used to announce and provide guidance in an emergency or crisis, and to communicate relevant critical updates.

The university plans to broadcast a test message once per semester to gauge the system's effectiveness.

Update your contact information

1. Go to Emergency Notification Settings.
2. Add, edit, or remove phone numbers to receive emergency alerts via call or text message. Note the following:
   • You cannot edit your campus phone number in the IU Notify app. If you have a private office number at which you want to receive alerts, enter it under your required campus phone number in the "Landlines" section.
   • You can add mobile phone numbers to either the "Cellular" or "Landlines" list, but only devices listed on the "Cellular" list can receive text messages.
   • Alerts will go out to all numbers listed, and emergency messages can occur at any time.
3. Emergency alerts will be sent to mobile devices registered with IU. Opt out of all IU Notify text messages by responding with the word Stop or by adjusting your settings on Emergency Notification Settings. Choose how you would like to receive notifications for all devices in the "Cellular" list: Text and voice alerts, Text messages only, or Voice alerts only. (Phone numbers in the "Landlines" list will only receive voice alerts.) Standard phone call and text messaging rates apply.
4. Your IU email address will always receive alerts. Enter any additional email addresses at which you'd like to be notified under your IU email address.
5. Choose your campus. You can select any additional campuses for which you'd like to receive alerts.
6. Read the user agreement (copied below) and check the box acknowledging that you have read and understand the risks if you opt out of receiving alerts. Then click Save preferences.

You will be prompted annually to verify your contact information.

IU Notify opt-out acknowledgment statement

Emergency broadcasts will be sent to numbers and addresses selected here, except any international phone numbers, due to technical restrictions, and according to alerting protocols. These records are uploaded for emergency communications every 8 hours (except during maintenance periods).

Opting out of any alert method increases the chance of missing notifications for any campus emergency or urgent situation, including, but not limited to: Campus closure, class cancellation, or a critical threat to public safety, such as an active shooter. Omitting secondary delivery methods increases the risk of receiving timely information necessary to stay safe in emergency or threatening situations. If you supervise or have responsibilities for the welfare of anyone on campus, it is important that you maintain multiple delivery points (such as cell and home phone) to receive necessary information in an emergency.