Currently there are at least twenty emergency call boxes located on the WSU campus.
(The plan calls for at least one in sight from every point on campus.) The intended
purpose of these call boxes is to provide a way to contact the WSU campus police immediately
when an emergency occurs. These boxes do have the capability for two-way communication
with the police dispatcher, but two-way communication is not essential.
When the student presses the button, the WSU Police dispatcher will automatically dispatch an officer to the location of the emergency call box and the strobe light on the top of the pole will flash. The dispatcher will continue to monitor what is happening at the call box and can hear what is happening at the site until the officer arrives. The student does not need to continually press the button to communicate with the dispatcher.
In every elevator on campus there is an emergency phone, and it operates in a similar fashion as the emergency call box. Once the phone is lifted off the receiver, the campus police receive the call. A signal is sent, letting the campus police know the location of the elevator. Two-way communication is not necessary because the campus police will send an officer immediately to the elevator.
The more information the student can give the dispatcher while waiting for the officers to arrive, the better. This will help the campus police know what is occurring and if there are any additional personnel that should be sent to the site of the emergency.