Enterprise Alert System

January 25, 2022 Posted by Pocketstop in Internal Communications Social Share

An enterprise alert system swings into action when emergency events affect your business. Critical events happen somewhere, every single day. So far, you may have been fortunate not to have to experience any of the following typical critical events:

• Severe weather
• Workplace violence
• Active shooters
• Terrorism
• IT outages and malfunctions, including hacking
• General power outages

Should any of these events happen to your business — and we hope they never do — how well will you be prepared to handle them? How will you know your staff and your operations are safe? And how will you protect your reputation both during and after the event?

Let’s drill down further so you can fully understand both the big picture and the small details:

What is an enterprise alert system? 

This is software that provides, in the event of an emergency, notifications, updates and vital information to your staff, customers, clients, vendors, and any other relevant people within your ecosystem. This should be done all from one easy-to-use platform. In short, it automates alerting.

Notifications can be sent in the following ways:

• Voice
• Text
• Email
• IM (instant messaging)

Your enterprise alert system should be able to track and verify the delivery of your notifications, and let you know if a notification can’t be delivered successfully.

How does an enterprise alert system work? 

It’s all done with monitoring software. It’s more than just spreading awareness and instructions in the event of an emergency. Your system should be a centralized function that streamlines and processes all information, allowing receivers to know that the messages are legitimate and useful and coming from an authoritative source.

When shopping for and comparing enterprise alert systems, keep these features and benefits in mind:

The ability to customize 

First, communications should look like your brand. You want to make sure that your recipients know that the messages are coming directly from you. You should be able to include your company logo for instant recognition. It is also important to personalize different messages for different groups of recipients. Depending on location and role you will want to communicate different information. And most importantly, you must be able to create your recipient list in advance so that only the people relevant to the situation will receive the most timely and relevant alerts.

The ability to automate

You don’t want to start creating messages and notifications in the heat of the emergency. Automated alerts take care of it in advance, allowing you to keep the messages short and to the point. After drafting, you should always be able to edit and tweak information later, but the bulk of the work will already be done. You must also be able to deliver your alerts quickly according to urgency or the actual event at hand. Not every emergency is alike, so having the ability to draft several options and edit them as needed is critical.

Reporting/analytics capabilities 

Be sure to have backup if you need to meet legal requirements or have to appear in court. Show that you practice transparency and and that your people are the highest priority. Make sure  that you are able to track who has received your messages, who opened them, and who may not be accounted for or could be in danger. If appropriate, logs of activity and locations to better target recipients are useful.  Allow them to respond to your alerts and tell you that they are okay or that they may need assistance. In short, your enterprise alert system should be able to give a very detailed account of what went down, and where and when.

High-quality security 

You not only want your system to be reliable, you also want it to be secure. You want the peace of mind that the alerts will go to the very people who need them most, in real time. You want to know that the system will stay strong and true to its goal in the chaos and confusion of an emergency. Protect your personal information with secure, encrypted notifications that require permissions and can’t be accessed by just anyone.

A geo-targeting feature

When an emergency happens, you may not physically be there. You may need to reach your people in a specific area that’s not nearby. If there is an active shooter in the building, you need to direct your people to a safe (or safer) place within the property. They want to hear from you, even if you are not with them, and they want alerts and information fast. Be sure you can map the location that needs your reach, simply by entering the location, address, city name or zip code. You want to avoid sending the wrong messages to the wrong people, especially within the demands of an emergency situation.

Seamless integration

You don’t want to start your organization’s software and other applications from scratch, just because you want to install an enterprise alert system. Your alert system should easily integrate with your existing systems, even when you custom-build it. This will save you hours of extra work and the chance of your alerts not reaching the right people. Your system should line right up with what’s already working for you.

How RedFlag can help with your enterprise alert system

RedFlag can provide the following features and benefits:

• Buy only the features you need — the most relevant functions that are tailored to your specific business.
• Dependable 24/7/365 support — have an army of support behind you, especially if you need assistance or have vital questions.
• Strong security — all of your information needs to remain confidential and protected, stored in an airtight, reliable cloud system.
• Multi-channel capabilities — simply send one message to everyone who needs to receive it, on any device they’re using.
• An ability to generate detailed, usable reports and summations — you may need this vital data in the near future, and you can also use it to improve your emergency strategies going forward.

Overall, your system should be easy to use.

Keep in mind that not all enterprise alert systems are alike. Make sure to choose a secure, reliable, multi-channel system that allows for seamless, two-way communication and the ability to be stored in one place.

Bottom line 

Your enterprise alert system should help you instantly communicate — in a variety of secure ways — with the people who need to hear from you most. It should integrate simply and easily with your existing software and applications, and always be reliable without question.

Find out more information about enterprise alert systems from the International Computing Centre. Click here.

Find out more about how RedFlag can help your information-gathering about enterprise alert systems. Click here.

 

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