| Emergency notification is a critical part of any | | | | upon sending out messages across multiple |
| organization's emergency planning. In this day and | | | | modalities-i.e. email, AND cell phone, home phone, |
| age, having a dedicated communications method | | | | work phone, pager, text message, instant |
| to contact all of your organization's members is | | | | message, BlackBerry PIN message-so that no |
| CRITICAL to being able to deal with unexpected | | | | matter where they are, they are able to get |
| circumstances such as a natural disaster or other | | | | word of a recent event. |
| emergency. When an incident occurs, you need to | | | | Another important feature of any emergency |
| be able to respond and deal with it immediately - | | | | notification system is the ability for the message |
| whether your organization is a multinational | | | | sender (a manager or president, for example) to |
| corporation, university, government agency, or | | | | get word back from their constituents after |
| small business. The members of your organization | | | | sending out their initial message. In the event of |
| are what matter the most. Taking care of them | | | | an emergency, a manager needs to be able to |
| in a time of crisis is the most pressing concern | | | | send a message saying, "There is a power outage |
| that the head of that organization has. | | | | on the 12th floor. Please respond to this message |
| With an effective emergency notification system | | | | by pressing 1 if you are OK, by pressing 2 if you |
| in place, you can sleep well at night knowing that | | | | need assistance, and by pressing 3 if you are OK |
| if an unexpected crisis occurs, you will be able to | | | | but you are with someone else who needs |
| deal with it quickly and efficiently. A reliable, tested | | | | assistance." That way, you guarantee your ability |
| emergency notification system is crucial to being | | | | to have an accurate head count immediately |
| able to, for example, notify your entire | | | | following any unexpected event, and you are able |
| management team of the situation status, and | | | | to respond accordingly to those who need help. |
| give ongoing updates as the incident plays out. At | | | | Customer service is another very important |
| the same time, you need to be able to locate | | | | factor to consider when choosing emergency |
| employees and receive word back from them to | | | | notification and response services-arguably the |
| confirm their location and their safety, or whether | | | | most important! The ability to call up your |
| they need assistance. Emergency notification is | | | | emergency notification provider and have |
| essential for any organization of any size that | | | | questions answered and a problem solved quickly |
| wants to be prepared for unexpected critical | | | | and effectively is almost too valuable to put a |
| events. | | | | price on. Having any questions about your system |
| --Key Factors to Look for in an Effective | | | | explained in an understandable way is crucial to |
| Emergency Notification System-- | | | | being able to put it to good use in a time of crisis. |
| A successful emergency notification system | | | | When looking into emergency notification, an |
| depends on being able to contact people no | | | | organization definitely must consider the simplicity |
| matter where they are. That means that the | | | | and ease of use of the system. It must be |
| system cannot depend solely on one | | | | reliable and robust, and capable of sending out |
| communication modality, such as email. In the | | | | messages across multiple modalities, and at the |
| event of an emergency, it is certainly not | | | | same time be simple enough so that any |
| guaranteed that a person will be sitting in front of | | | | manager or employee who needs to send out an |
| their computer. Emergency notification depends | | | | urgent message can do so without any problems. |