How do Emergency Notification Systems Work?

Technology keeps us updated and connected as never before. Thinking about the technology we use in our daily routine and comparing it to 20 years ago. E-mails, instant messaging and pocket phones, SMS (text) messaging, PDAs, etc. We know that the technology can improve productivity, connectivity and help save lives in an emergency.

In this article, we’ll discuss emergency notifications. we categorize the emergency notification system into two categories:

• Non-discriminating alerts
• Targeted alerts

Learn the details about How do emergency notification systems work?

Non-Discriminating Alarms

An air raid siren is a perfect example of non-discriminating emergency notification. The siren’s warning tone or audio message is sent to all people within the audible area of the broadcast regardless of their age, gender, or what equipment they have. The other warnings depend on communication equipment, like televisions, radios, phones, handhelds, or computers.

“Air-raid siren” is an untrue term. A small number of long-range warning systems are used today to serve the reason of alerting the public to a military attack. Common uses for modern warning sirens are:

• Volunteer fire calls
• Storm warnings for severe weather
• Tornado warnings
• Hurricane warnings
• Tsunami warnings
• Dam failure alerts
• Chemical spill alerts

The modern warning sirens typically begin with a tone or a set of tones. Then they play recorded messages frequently urging citizens to switch on TVs or radios for more information. These radio and TV broadcasts are part of a non-discriminating alarm system known as “the emergency Alert System (EAS).

The EAS, formerly called the Emergency Broadcast System, was established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow the president to communicate with the nation during times of crisis.

Targeted Emergency Notifications

The simplest way to implement a specific alert system for emergencies is the telephone tree. Phone trees can be a reliable method to contact small to medium-sized individuals (less than 100). Phone trees are thought of as a specific notification, as only those affected by a crisis are notified. This is how phone trees function:

1. The coordinator outlines all participants of the phone tree, along with the contact information for each.
2. Employees utilize their Web portal or application to add contact information for each individual in the database, which includes fax and phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
3. The coordinator assigns each key participant an individual group of people to contact (not over 10).
4. In case of emergency, the planner calls the most important members using the scripted message.

Telephone trees are not without limitations:

• If any of the key members aren’t able to be reached, it transfers the responsibility onto the person who organized the event or the other players, who might not answer all calls on time.
• The more members in the group’s number of people, the higher the chance that one key member won’t be in the group.
• The limitations of phone trees stem from the fact that they only rely on one method of communication. The ability to communicate across multiple platforms is the major benefit of automated electronic systems for notification, and we’ll speak about it in the next section.

Many companies offer mass notifications and emergency notifications. These services are automatic phone trees. They can simultaneously send an emergency notification to thousands of people across every communication platform available: e-mail, phone, cell phone SMS Pager, PDA, and fax.

Here are some benefits and benefits of automated mass notifications systems:

• It saves time during an emergency by reaching all the parties simultaneously.
• This frees emergency personnel and employees to focus on other projects.
• Increases the chances that your message will be read by reaching out to recipients across the various communication platforms
• The messages can be sent via Web or phone, ensuring that important alerts are still delivered even if there is no Internet connection.
• Ability to monitor and confirm the reception of messages in real-time
• Certain notification systems stop communicating with members after a certain number of members have been contacted. This is particularly useful when volunteers are required quickly.
• Ability to record messages and post them on a bulletin board, which is accessible by staff or members through an exclusive 800 number as well as a PIN.