The University of Hawai'i yesterday successfully tested a new system that provides emergency notifications to personnel involved in coordinating institutional reaction and response to emergency and crisis situations.

More than 100 people throughout the UH system received test phone calls and e-mail messages automatically sent to their contact information.

The system may eventually be a part of a larger strategy to notify faculty, staff and students in the event that a shooting like the one that unfolded on the campus of Virginia Tech University last month takes place in Manoa.

However, the technology used in yesterday's test cannot be used to reach the 60,000 students, faculty and staff that comprise the UH system. UH officials caution that the coordination of response to a catastrophe would need to integrate notification methods utilizing a variety of technologies.

"It's very important, but it is one part of the emergency communication puzzle that we're working on. This is something we had been working on before Virginia Tech," said David Lassner, vice president for information technology at UH.

"There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and we're working really hard on that problem. We're looking at utilizing (a mix) of e-mail, telephone, text messaging, media, Web sites and a public address system. In any situation it is going to be a mixture of technologies that makes sense," Lassner said.

The test was conducted using the NTI Connect-ED system, which was chosen by the university last year through a competitive bid process. Several Honolulu private schools also use the system.

Yesterday's test involved only emergency coordinators and administrators identified by the UH system or campuses as part of the institutional crisis response teams, according to a news release. UH has long maintained e-mail distribution capability for all its students and faculty but not a equivalent system for phone notification. Connect-ED adds automated distribution of notices by phone and multiple e-mail address capability.

A system that can reach both faculty and students is currently being considered by the university.

"They are looking at a variety of software right now," said Carolyn Tanaka, a university spokeswoman.

UH officials began considering alternative notification systems after recent events, such as October's earthquake and ensuing power outage, highlighted the need for improvements in emergency communications. Last October's earthquake and power outages disabled many Hawai'i providers of e-mail and wireless phone service, and hindered the ability of many to make calls with their landline phones.

How university officials should alert students and staff in the event of danger has been a major topic following the Virginia Tech shootings last month. Virginia Tech officials did not send out a campus-wide alert over the school's public address system and instead sent an e-mail alerting students to the first of the shootings about two hours after it happened.

UH-Manoa does not have a public address system, and students and staff would be notified of a crisis by e-mail and telephone calls.

While the current agreement for use of NTI Connect-ED focuses on communication among crisis management teams, UH also plans to adopt one of the many approaches to providing text messages directly to any of the 60,000 students, faculty and staff who can accept emergency notices on their mobile phones.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.