Emergency communication system
The Virginia Tech massacre, which caused 33 people to die, helped cause people to talk more about emergency communication systems in schools. Virginia Tech already had some communication systems, including e-mail and text notifications, but did not have a good plan for using them. No warnings were sent out until after the event, two and a half hours after the first shootings. Since this event, Virginia Tech has improved its emergency communications systems, especially public systems, since students can not always check e-mail often and professors often tell their students to turn off their wireless devices in class. Because the massacre happened very quickly, within 10 minutes, other schools have also implemented new, improved emergency communications systems with a focus on speed of communication.