It was sent at 9:05 a.m. Friday. Did you get the message?

Friday morning marked the first trial run of the ISU Alert system, said ISU Police Cmdr. Gene Deisinger. The ISU Alert System is a “multi-modal” emergency system, which can dispatch an emergency message by e-mail, text message and voice message in the case of an active shooter or shots fired on campus, he said.

Deisinger said he was pleased with how the test went and the main goal of the test was to “identify the strengths” and limitations of the system. He said the feedback received showed that most people got some form of message within a few minutes, with some receiving a message in under a minute.

“This morning we did the first full test of the system, sending out to all the users on the Iowa State campus,” he said. “By and large, the feedback we have received so far indicates the system has worked the way it was designed to.”

Deisinger said although he is confident in the alert system, he does not rule out word-of-mouth as the best way of spreading a warning message.

“I feel this is one of several effective tools,” he said. “I think that experience has shown us that while technology is important, it is also important not to over-rely on technology. And word-of-mouth communication is still very important.”

The messages went out to most of the 31,000 faculty members, staff and students on the ISU campus, with each of them getting some form of message.

The delivery of the messages can be customized on users’ AccessPlus accounts. Users can opt to receive only one type of message or no messages at all on AccessPlus.

Deisinger said administrators who can authorize use of the ISU Alert system include ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, Provost Elizabeth Hoffman, Director of Public Safety Jerry Stewart, ISU Police Cmdr. Rob Bowers, Dean of Students Dione Somerville, all university vice presidents and himself.

The system uses a series of templates tailored to a few types of warning messages, Deisinger said, and also uses a text box that allows short warning text messages to be created and sent out. He also said there is an optional template for a pre-recorded warning message, or he can record one himself.

Due to the sequence the system uses, some received e-mails first and some got text messages first, while some people may not have gotten a message for an hour, he said.

In the last week, there has been a public information drive urging students and faculty to keep their contact on AccessPlus up to date, Deisinger said. He also indicated there were some users who may not have gotten one or more types of the message during the test due to out-of-date records, such as incorrect phone numbers or e-mail addresses.

John McCarroll, executive director for university relations, said the feedback he received about the testing was approving.

“We have not analyzed all the results, but I think the overall feeling is pretty positive,” he said. “It was the first large-scale test.”

Deisinger said he encouraged individuals who received any of the alert messages to give their opinion of them through a survey which can be found on the front page of AccessPlus.