Extending its array of college services, Blackboard, a maker of course-management software, said today it would buy an emergency-notification company, NTI Group Inc., that specializes in sending alerts to educational institutions. The deal was reported by Bloomberg News and several other wire services.
Michael Chasen, CEO of Blackboard, said the deal would cost it $182-million and should be completed by March 31.
Campuses have been paying ever more attention to emergency-notification planning since last spring’s shootings at Virginia Tech and subsequent incidents at Delaware State and Louisiana State Universities. NTI sends mass notifications to people at schools and colleges using text messages and voice mail to cellphones as well as e-mail and other channels. —Josh Fischman
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