Baldwin Alert Message
Baldwin Alert Messages are a crucial component of the university’s emergency communication system. The university uses BAM to alert the community to imminent danger — for example, a tornado, fire, chemical spill, or threat of violence.
In cases of extreme danger, Mary Baldwin’s campus sirens will be sounded first, followed by a BAM alert. The siren (which can be heard outdoors throughout campus, but not necessarily inside buildings) will alert you that there is imminent danger, and the BAM messages will let you know what is happening and what you should do to protect yourself.
The BAM system allows each student and employee to control how to receive emergency messages via text, email, and voice mail to their personal mobile phones, landline phones, and email addresses. You can update your information as often as you like.
1. Once logged in, use the “click here” link to manage your contact information and subscription preferences.
2. Provide your contact information.
3. To receive BAM voicemails and texts, you must provide the phone number and select the method of delivery.
4. Under the “Subscriptions” menu, you can edit your information and customize your subscriptions for Emergency or Outreach BAM alerts by mousing over each option.
5. Make sure you have considered how you would like to be notified in the event of a weather event through the BAM Outreach function. Be sure to save any changes!
A: Mary Baldwin University undergraduate and graduate students who regularly spend time on the main campus or at Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences. Faculty and staff who regularly spend time on the main campus or Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, including traveling to campus from regional centers for occasional meetings. Employees with offices in one of the regional centers should include their office phone numbers.
A: Only current employees and students have records in the BAM database, and others cannot sign up individually. However, if your parent, spouse, or other family member or friend would like to receive emergency alerts from Mary Baldwin, you can input their phone numbers and/or email addresses as part of your record. They will then receive BAM alerts as long as they remain a Mary Baldwin student or employee.
A: For security and privacy purposes as well as logistical ones, the BAM database is maintained separately from other university records. Even if you have provided your cell phone number or personal email address to the university for other purposes, you will not receive BAM alerts unless you fill out the web form that specifically allows us to send them to you. This way, you get to control exactly how you receive emergency alerts.
A: Mary Baldwin will not use BAM for routine business. It will be used only when there is an urgent need to alert the university community rapidly. There is also an opportunity to receive weather-related messages via text. The university will conduct tests of the system from time to time in order to make sure that it is working properly.
A: You are correct: BAM emergency communications will go to all numbers and e-mail addresses you provide. There may come a time, however, when Mary Baldwin sees a need to send urgent but non-emergency announcements using this system. These messages will go only to the primary number you have provided, in addition to all-campus voicemail and email.
A: Mary Baldwin University will never share your contact information with anyone outside the college unless it is legally compelled to do so. Even within the college, we will use your personal contact information only for urgent, official business; we have implemented the same high standard of security we employ for all student and personnel records.
A: Absolutely! Visit https://bam.bbcportal.com/ any time you have a new phone number or e-mail address, or otherwise choose to change your contact information.
A: It is possible that we do not have your correct contact information. Please login to BAM and verify your information. If it seems to be correct, contact webmaster@marybaldwin.edu or call 540-887-7180.
A: To receive text messages, you must provide the university with your mobile phone number by entering it into the appropriate field of the BAM web form. Also, be sure that there is NOT a checkmark beside the statement “I do not wish to receive text messages on my cell phone in case of emergency.” Depending on your cell service carrier, you may receive a verification text message that you need to reply to in order for the number to be validated to receive future messages.
A: You have three options. While on the call, you can replay the message by pressing the star key (*) at the end of the message. At any time you can call the emergency information line at 540-887-7378 to hear current information. Or, you could check your email to locate the same information sent in that format.
A: The system does its best to detect whether it has reached a live person or an answering machine. Sometimes loud ambient noises may cause the system to loop. If this happens, use the mute feature on your phone or move to a quieter location to prevent the message from repeating.