Dear members of the McGill community,
In emergency situations, timely and trustworthy communication is essential to protecting lives. McGill also sends out emergency notifications about time-sensitive information like unplanned campus closures, severe weather or power outages.
To help us reach you more efficiently, we recommend that you opt in to a new emergency notification system, which is being rolled out this month. Please take a few moments to do the following:
1. Opt in to receive emergency text messages (SMS)
Sign in to this secure BlackBerry AtHoc page with your McGill credentials. Click on the “My Profile” tab at the top of the screen, then click “Edit” to add your mobile number.
Unfortunately, we can’t transfer numbers from our old emergency text system, so if you’ve given us your mobile before, you’ll need to sign up again.
2. Ensure that you can receive laptop notifications
We are pushing BlackBerry AtHoc to all McGill-managed Windows computers, replacing the previous application, known as Alertus.
For your personal computer, or any Mac computer, follow these instructions to activate desktop notifications.
3. Download and configure the BlackBerry AtHoc mobile app
You can also receive emergency notifications on your mobile device using the BlackBerry AtHoc mobile app. Information about how to download and activate the mobile app are also available on this page.
For additional information and resources related to emergency notifications, visit this emergency management webpage.
If you need technical support, please submit your request for help through the “report an issue” page.
Thank you for taking this important first step to protect yourself and our community.
Tom O’Neill
Chief Security Officer
