June 2, 2015 Posted by Pocketstop in Pockestop News, Mass Notification Social Share
It is an exciting time to be alive. The world has been at our fingertips for some time, and now, it is not only at our fingertips but can accompany us anywhere we go. Digital, mobile communications have opened up a whole new world to businesses and consumers alike — allowing for an unprecedented personal touch, and reach, when communicating to one another with text message marketing or with emergency notifications.
But the implications of digital and mobile communications are not just positive for businesses and consumers but for all of us. Easy access to and free-flowing of information creates a better informed and, hopefully then, better prepared population.
I’ll take, for example, what has been going on in the last several weeks here in Texas. The weather has been extreme. Countless tornado and flash flood watches and warnings and emergency notifications have been issued and we’ve even experienced a few earthquakes recently.
Luckily, the earthquakes have been weak and more or less serve as a reminder that the unpredictable can and does happen. But for Mother Nature’s other doses of extreme weather, we have to stay alert and be prepared. Today’s technology allows for immediate communication via emergency notifications.
Emergency notifications come in many varieties. The Federal Communication Commission distributes emergency notifications to cell phone users using the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system. A WEA “covers only critical emergency situations” including alerts issued by the President, involving imminent threats to safety or life and Amber alerts. Many of us here in Texas have recently received a WEA warning us of impending severe weather.
These immediate emergency notifications allow us to take a breath and make a plan. Do we need to find shelter immediately? Do we have some time? Do we need to make arrangements for our children or elderly family members? Do we need to gather emergency supplies?
Knowing we are going to receive these alerts on our phones calms our fears of being unprepared. We know, even if the television is off, the radio is tuned down and our laptop is closed — we’ll still be able to receive an emergency notification via our ever useful cell phone.
Emergency notifications also come in by way of applications or mass notification systems. Many weather applications will allow you to also set up alerts for certain situations. Mass notifications systems, like our very own RedFlag, are used by businesses, governments, schools and other organizations to keep their employees, staff, contractors, students and other stakeholder informed about, honestly anything and everything, but also allows for instant communication channels during a critical situation.
No matter where you are — make sure you’ve got your cell phone optimized to keep you informed so you can be better prepared for an emergency. Sign up to receive emergency notifications from your local weather channel and your company or school. Many of these organizations utilize mass notification systems to distribute emergency notifications to you and they are almost always free of charge for you to subscribe to.
For more information about Pocketstop’s RedFlag Notification System and our other operational and marketing communication solutions visit www.pocketstop.com where you can live chat with us or give us a call at 877-840-2444.
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