Creating a Reliable Emergency Alert System

Can you contact your employees during an emergency? Do you have a way to alert them of a crisis or provide instructions for responding to severe weather, a network outage or a violent incident? Automated phone calls and emails aren’t fast or reliable enough for time-sensitive situations, especially when you need to reach recipients who aren’t on-site.

An emergency alert system is vital for corporations, schools, healthcare institutions and government agencies of all sizes. Fortunately, the federal government’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) provides a clear blueprint for a comprehensive, reliable notification system. Rave Mobile Safety’s critical communication solutions allow organizations to design and implement an effective emergency notification system.

Key features for an emergency alert system

What type of functionality does an emergency notification system need? Here are some of the most important features to consider:

• Multichannel notifications: Simultaneously send alerts via voice, email, desktop notifications, SMS text, social media, digital signage and PA systems.
• Multilingual messages: Allow users to select their preferred language; Rave Mobile Safety’s mass notification system automatically translates messages into over 60 languages.
• Opt-in/opt-out functionality: Allow visitors and temporary staff members to sign up for emergency alerts, and automatically remove those recipients after a specified time frame.
• Integration with 9-1-1: Give incident managers a dedicated platform with which to coordinate and collaborate with 9-1-1 and first responders. 
• Two-way communication: Request status updates from off-site users and enable text-from-911 functionality.
• Targeted messaging: Send emergency notifications only to affected users, reducing alert fatigue and avoiding the spread of misinformation.

These features ensure that emergency alerts can reliably reach all intended recipients, no matter where they are.

Top uses for emergency notifications

There are countless situations where emergency alerts are critical to keeping people and property safe.

Severe weather

Tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and floods can destroy roads, take down electrical grids and create severe hazards for people and facilities. It’s imperative for local governments and organizations to alert citizens and employees of impending severe weather and provide shelter-in-place instructions and other critical information.

Schedule changes

Businesses, K-12 schools and universities often have to change scheduled events and classes at the last minute. An emergency alert system makes it easy to inform affected individuals of these changes and provides instructions on new class times or locations. 

By sending these notifications via multiple channels simultaneously, administrators can lower the risk of students or employees showing up at the wrong place simply because they didn’t receive a voicemail or email in time.

Active shooter events

Mass notifications are critical when workplace violence occurs. Administrators, managers and local officials must be able to instantly alert people of an active shooter, suspicious package or lockdown situation. Additionally, mass notifications can be used to provide crucial safety instructions, such as telling people in a certain building to shelter in place or informing remote employees to avoid coming into the office.

Unplanned outages

When electrical grids or internal networks go down, managers may not be able to communicate with their people via email or desktop notifications. However, it’s critical to maintain connections to inform employees of network conditions or warn them of a possible cyberattack. With two-way communication features, administrators can request status updates from remote employees or ask them whether they’ve logged out of the network.

Operational messaging

Emergency alerts have many applications outside of crisis situations. A reliable internal communications network is essential for any organization, and an emergency mass notification system can also be used to send critical or time-sensitive information during standard operations. HR can send helpful resources, teachers can inform parents when report cards go out and managers can quickly contact on-call workers to address staffing shortages.

Build your emergency alert system with help from Rave Mobile Safety

Every organization, no matter its size or industry, needs a way to keep people informed during crisis situations. Corporations need to contact employees, schools must notify their students and local governments must ensure that citizens and visitors are aware of emergencies. A robust emergency alert system meets all of these requirements and gives organizations the means to connect with their people during normal operations as well.

Traditional alert systems, like radio announcements, automated phone calls and even emails aren’t as fast or reliable as texts and mobile-based notifications. But texts and app notifications also have their limits. The best emergency alert system is one that incorporates multiple modes of communication to ensure that each recipient has the highest chance of staying informed.

Rave Mobile Safety, a Motorola Solutions company, offers critical communication solutions designed for all types of emergency situations. Our mass notification platform is easy to use; administrators can send multichannel alerts in seconds. This system integrates with existing alarms and communication infrastructure, and users can be trained in under two hours. We also offer personal safety apps, incident management systems and critical tools for first responders. To learn more about our products and find the right solution for your organization, contact our team.