BALTIMORE (Map, News) - When Seung-Hui Cho went on a killing rampage four months ago at Virginia Tech, he kick-started the industry of campus emergency-warning systems.

Omnilert, the company that claims it developed the nation’s first cell phone text-message alert system, was flooded with calls from 600 universities in the four days following the Virginia Tech shootings.

The colleges buying e2Campus from the Leesburg, Va., company jumped from 30 to 150.

And the number of new businesses cashing in on the text-alert craze increased at least sevenfold, from six to more than 40, said Peter Lester, head of business development for Omnilert.

“Business has boomed,” he said. “Everybody and their brother is jumping into the market to capture the momentum.”

Another company out of Beltsville, Md., has piqued the interest of college officials this year.

Universities across the state are considering buying Alertus, a system of notification beacons mounted on walls in lobbies, elevators and stairways that feature a scrolling message, sirens and strobe lights. The local public safety departments activate the system using wireless technology developed at the University of Maryland, College Park.

“Some of the large schools were already looking at it, but Virginia Tech certainly reignited the urgency for a solution,” company Chief Executive Officer Jason Volk said.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com