IOWA CITY &#8212 A new voice message system at University of Iowa will let students, faculty and staff receive emergency warnings on their phones or by e-mail.

Public safety officials will be able to send voice mail messages through Hawk Alert as soon as this weekend, said Steve Fleagle, university associate vice president and chief information officer.

The program, which costs $60,000 a year, will send alerts to the entire campus within 10 to 20 minutes, Fleagle said.

The university installed five outdoor towers to transmit the recorded messages.

The system will be tested later this week or in early September, according to Chuck Green, director of public safety at Iowa.