Emerge is one of several technologies the University of Waterloo will use to distribute messages in the event of an emergency.
The emerge client program runs on client computers and keeps in contact with central servers. In the event of an emergency, an authorized person submits a message to be displayed on clients screens. In seconds, emerge servers distribute that message to emerge clients and the client systems automatically pop up a web browser to display the message.
A client version is available for Windows.
The latest version of the client can be found on the web, you will need this file:
Standalone (for your own computer)
First, if you already have Emerge installed, uninstall it. For
standalone PCs, go to Start | Settings | Control Panel | add/remove
programs, select UWEmerge and uninstall it.l
Then open the downloaded file from above and run it.
Log out then log back in. An icon that looks like the UW crest will be in the system tray (usually lower right hand corner).
Open a web browser and go to http://emerge.uwaterloo.ca You will have to supply some login credentials. Then send a test message to yourself. After pressing send, a web browser should start up and the test message will be displayed.
If that worked, your system is installed correctly and it will display emergency messages as they are released.
If the test failed, emerge is not installed correctly.