UF is installing emergency speakers in about 600 locations on campus - at a cost of about $900,000.
They're being installed in every classroom, most class labs and high-traffic areas around campus, like the Plaza of the Americas and the Reitz Union North Lawn, said Kenneth Allen, UF's emergency management coordinator.
Almost all of the locations will be indoors, Allen said, with about a dozen outdoor locations.
Some of the indoor locations will have telephones with speakers instead of stand-alone speakers, he said.
The system will allow UF to simultaneously broadcast an emergency message all over campus in addition to sending it out via text message and through e-mail with UF's current emergency alert system, he said.
The installation should be complete by early 2010, he said, with about 160 locations equipped by the end of May.
The speakers are the main part of a $1-million emergency notification system. The remaining $100,000 not spent on the speakers will go to other services like text messaging, Allen said.
Students paid for half of the costs through the Capital Improvement Trust Fund fee applied to tuition. UF matched the rest of the money.
The project was given the green light in August of 2008, Allen said, and in March, Matherly Hall was the first building to have the speakers installed.
The system will also have the capability to include features like video screens and scrolling signs, he said.
There are no immediate plans to include screens or signs. However, as technology changes, the system will be able to adapt, he said.
