TeleForum to discuss H1N1 precautions on campus

In response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's expectation of increased cases of H1N1 flu as students return to school this fall, Colorado-based Broadnet is offering a unique package of its virtual town hall service, TeleForum, to colleges and universities in an effort to aid communication with parents, communities and students.

TeleForum is a telephone-based technology that invites people to join calls, listen in and ask questions of their host. Colleges and universities can leverage TeleForum to discuss H1N1 precautions on campus with parents and students.

"The threat of H1N1 flu is a serious issue. The use of TeleForum will provide an opportunity for people in college communities to engage in dialogue, get information and hopefully put prevention tools in place," said Steve Patterson, CEO of Broadnet. "We hope our goodwill effort of providing this service to colleges at a reduced cost will allow communities to connect and will ease nerves as parents send their children back to school."

Many campuses already have plans in place for dealing with potential outbreaks. Colleges are hanging posters encouraging students to wash their hands and stay home if they are sick. Some provide daily online updates about the path of the virus and the impact on the institution. Others have established action teams to step in in case of an outbreak. Broadnet's tools will supplement these current plans by allowing parents and students to be in direct contact with those involved in creating and executing them.

Unlike typical seasonal flu, H1N1 mostly infects young people, so the CDC recommends that when a vaccine becomes available, people 5-24 are among the first to receive it. College students clearly fall in this age bracket, and risk on college campuses is further heightened due to close-quarter dorm life.

Broadnet's platform of Web-integrated products connects politicians to their constituents, sports fans to their teams and readers to their favorite authors and publishers via telephone and Web. Since January, over 74 million people have connected using Broadnet's services.

Click here to see a map of how universities have already been affected by H1N1.