GSN January 2016 Digital Edition

pipes in a house. With each turn, a
little bit of volume and velocity is
lost. “The more turns in the delivery,
the slower the delivery,” he said.
With Desktop Alert, the heavy
lifting happens on the existing network,
which can relay the message
to its users on a more-immediate
basis, giving those on the network
more time to respond to the alert.
In most instances, the alert can go
out in less than a minute. In fact,
with its shot detection technology,
Ryan said it can automatically send
an alert the instant a shot is fired resulting
in a lock down of an entire
campus, hospital, or office building
in under 60 seconds.
Besides Fort Hood, the system is
currently in use at hundreds of sites
across the country and around the
world. Those include key government
entities like the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the U.S.
Air Force, U.S. Northern Command
and the Army and Air National
Guards.
With the Department of Defense
taking a much closer look at how
it sends mass notification alerts in
wake of recent incidents both on
and off military facilities, including
recruiting and reserve facilities like
those in Chattanooga, TN that was
attacked last July. After five military
personnel – four Marines and
a Navy sailor – died after a gunman
opened fire, the Department of Defense
ordered a comprehensive re-
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