The university has updated its emergency notification system, Mason Alerts, to automatically enroll those who have been issued a @gmu.edu or @masonlive.gmu.edu email address.

Automatic enrollment allows members of the Mason community to log in with their Mason credentials as opposed to a separate login for Mason Alerts.

The new system also boasts a more modern look, and the university will be able to add and delete members as they come and go.

“We believe the new system provides a better user experience that will ultimately lead to more users registering their mobile phone,” said David Farris, the director for Emergency Management and Fire Safety. “Also, this system provides enhanced capability to craft and distribute emergency messages and timely warnings.”

While the new system has the ability to send notifications to a Mason email address, the university encourages the community to register their mobile phones so they have more than one form of contact. Users have the option to add up to three mobile phones, land lines and emails. Along with these updates, the system will also be able to better reach the public and regional partners.

“[The] previous system worked well; however, there were some technological issues that we wanted to address to improve performance that we could not overcome,” Farris said.