Mass Notification Serves Notice of More Uses
Emergency communications platforms are being leveraged in new ways that allow end users to achieve business efficiencies and other organizational benefits. Find out how these systems can be integrated into other business solutions as well as to expand your
College campuses oftentimes rely on mass notification systems to deliver non-emergency announcements. These platforms are being used for faculty meeting updates, class venue changes for students and more.
Mass Transit Can Leverage Notification Technology
Mass transit systems include inner-city buses, trolleybuses, subway and commuter rail, heavy and light rail, automated guideway transit, cable cars and mono rails. Combined, these systems provide more than 9.6 billion trips per year. Amtrak alone serves 21 million passengers per year at more than 500 stations.
To enhance security within all mass transit locations, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) focuses on five strategic priority principles in the implementation of mass transit and passenger rail safety. According to the agency’s Web site, the first of those principles is to “expand partnerships for security enhancement.” One way some mass transit agencies are using this principle is with the integration of MNS technology.
With a notification platform, mass transit facilities have the ability to deliver intelligible audio messages through wide area emergency broadcasting systems (WEBS) to passengers based on geographical location. The software allows messages to be sent to a specific train, platform or an entire station. To help facilitate communication with passengers, rail services are also using MNS technology integrated with PA systems to send messages regarding delayed train departures, delayed train arrivals, possible accidents, and other information that will impact their traveling plans.
Optimize Staff Productivity Across the Organization
An MNS platform can be used within all departments of a business to improve internal communication for improved business continuity, including in the areas of sales and marketing, facilities and IT.
On the sales and marketing side, MNSs allow upper management to initiate instant conference calls. Today’s businesses are growing into more global enterprises with employees scattered across the world and oftentimes E-mails or traditional conference bridges are not efficient ways to communicate with team me
mbers. For one reason or another, it’s not always possible to get everyone to join a call intended for the entire group, resulting in a breakdown of productive correspondence.
The option to integrate MNS software into a customer relationship management (CRM) system makes it possible for sales directors to send team members a meeting alert and for the recipients to join the call right away by pressing a button on their phone. Delivery confirmation is a reliable feature that informs the original sender when the alert has been received or if it had been neglected on purpose.
MNSs are also a reliable way to keep employees briefed on pertinent information regarding major organizational restructuring. To keep employees productive, one large company used a notification platform to communicate with employees about the latest developments during a merger and to answer common questions regarding changing job functions and stability. With so many employees scattered across the world, the corporate-sponsored messages were sent out instantly through landline phones, SMS and E-mails. The company’s CEO was able to tailor the messages to answer employee concerns regarding the acquisition and then easily track the responses.
There are several ways notification technology is helping facilities departments within organizations function more efficiently. Many businesses are using notification platforms to keep everyone informed about inclement weather and possible natural disasters. The technology not only allows the message to be delivered to thousands of employees at once, it also provides a way for them to respond with important information. For example, if a storm has caused a power outage in the building, an employee who has already reported to work can respond with information about the status of the situation. Similarly, facilities departments can easily inform the entire staff with updates about ongoing maintenance projects, parking closures and other situations that have a direct impact on everyone in the building.
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