COLUMBIA, MO. -- Thousands of cell phones across the Mizzou campus chimed in unison during this year’s test of a text message alert system.

Faculty, staff and students got their emergency text at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday.

Once they received the emergency alert, participants were asked to send a confirmation text back to authorities.

Police said the text message alert system is an important tool for any potential emergency on the Mizzou campus.

MUPD Captain Brian Weimer said, “We keep trying to test it just to make sure it’s going as expected.  We look at our policies and procedures to make sure that the plans are in place so that if something happens we’re not scrambling.  It’s already down and we know what we are doing.  We’ve done it before and we can get that message up.”

Mizzou’s text message alert system operates on a volunteer basis.

University leaders are encouraging everyone at their school to sign up for the program.