If an armed gunman is ever spotted on campus, Carleton University will use a new system to send emails and text messages to students and staff and flash messages on campus computer screens.

The $350,000 Emergency Notification System was unveiled by the university Thursday and announced in a news release.

Using the system, which was created in partnership with local technology companies Mitel and Benbria, the university can:

• Deliver an on-screen message to computers on campus and lock them down.
• Email 27,000 accounts.
• Send text messages to anyone who has provided a cellphone number.

The system is expected to be fully operational by Sept. 1 and will undergo a campus-wide test on Sept. 25.

Len Boudreault, the university's director of safety, said there has never been a shooting incident at a campus in Ottawa, but Carleton is trying to be proactive.

He added that students at the campus are very computer-oriented.

"We did our safety audit, we asked them, 'How do you want us to … tell you about these issues?' We listened to that, we incorporated that into our response."

Ottawa police Chief Vern White said he thinks the system is a good investment. He suggested it would allow people to protect themselves in the case of an attack and bar classroom doors until the incident is over.