WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Arizona State University (ASU) has selected Blackboard Inc. to enhance communication and preparedness through advanced messaging capabilities and customizable features, the company announced today.

Blackboard Connect ™ offers an advanced and efficient solution to support outreach initiatives and ensure students, faculty and staff are well informed about important events that could impact their education.

The new system, beginning operations on January 1, 2013, will send both urgent notifications and important campus updates to students, faculty and staff through email, texts, RSS, Facebook and Twitter. Starting December 21, 2012, recipients will have the ability to manage their message settings, including the campus location they wish to receive text messages from and including additional subscribers.

"The safety of those on our campuses is our top priority, which is why we need to be able to communicate with students, faculty and staff, and other affiliates quickly in an urgent situation," said Allen Clark, Director of Emergency Preparedness at Arizona State University. "We are updating our emergency messaging system so the ASU community receives important messages when it matters most. We look forward to adding additional services that will enable the system to serve the community more efficiently and have the broadest reach possible."

ASU students, faculty and staff will be automatically enrolled in the system, but will be prompted, starting December 21, 2012, to update, customize or opt-out of the system using MyASU, a secure university web portal.  

In 2011, ASU adopted Blackboard Student Services(SM) to provide support for students, faculty and staff in all areas of campus life, from financial aid and human resources to academic technology and IT. In addition, the university has used Blackboard Learn™, the company's leading learning management platform since 2000. 

"Our ongoing partnership with ASU demonstrates Blackboard's unique ability to provide innovative technology that enhances both academic and administrative aspects of campus life, including communication," said Ed Miller, president of Administrative Platforms at Blackboard. "We are dedicated to providing ASU, as well as universities across the country, with a suite of solutions that meet student demands and provide a personalized approach to student engagement."

Engaging more than 44 million people around the world, Blackboard Connect is the leading mass notification system connecting organizations with their communities. In 2011, Blackboard Connect delivered more than 1 billion messages, and has achieved superior levels of reliability, delivering up to 99.999 percent uptime over the past three years.