Emergency Notification Systems and Crisis Communication – Blog

As an industry leader in emergency notification, one would imagine that we were swamped over the past few days with inquiries related to the false missile warning in Hawaii and Japan. We were. Whether the questions came from the media, customers who have implemented our solutions, or organizations planning to implement Omnilert, the inquiries were unified in theme.

As we look into 2018 and towards new and exciting technological advancements in emergency communications, I reminisce about a moment I recently had with my father. He recently shared a hard copy, binder version of his Emergency Response & Action Plan from the 1990’s with me. As the Supervisory Inspector of The Peace Bridge at the U.S.-Canada border, he was the lead author of the documented procedures and responsible for implementing emergency response. As we reviewed the 20-year-old plan, it brought us both back to how things once were. As we reminisced on all the late night calls he received to initiate a manual response to the crisis at hand, we went into deeper conversation about one event in particular.

How can you reduce that critical period of time - from recognizing an actionable incident to initiating a comprehensive set of response actions? How can you ensure that the right people receive the right information in a matter of minutes - or even seconds? Automation. In this article, published in the most recent Critical Mass Magazine, we explain how adopting an automated, scenario-based approach can help improve the efficiency of your response plans. 

According to Critical Mass magazine’s September 2017 survey, emergency notification system administrators are looking towards the world of automation to extend their organizations’ reach for emergency notification, action, and response. The results indicate that although text, email, and voice call notifications still dominate implementations - organizations are working towards evolving into a more sophisticated and automated scenario-based approach.  

When it comes to critical communications, just like flying an aircraft filled with hundreds of passengers, failure is not an option. There is not a second chance to get it right. Therefore, when it's imperative that your communications are received, can you be certain your organization will succeed? Exercising and measuring all of the 'moving parts' of a system goes a long way toward reducing this risk. This is where Proven Success Indicators (PSIs) come in.

In this Q&A, originally published in the 2018 Critical Mass Magazine, Chief Peter Carey discusses how Buffalo State College coordinates emergency preparedness, notification, and response throughout the entire campus community. Carey is Campus Safety Magazine’s 2017 Campus Safety Director of the Year for Higher Education.