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By Kathy Veldboom
Are you confident that the right people in your organization
can be contacted to respond to any number of possible scenarios? Can you
do it quickly and reliably, every time? Software solutions that automate
the notification process are now powerful and reliable enough to implement
and manage the notification process enterprise-wide. The choices are many,
however, and deciding which one to buy can be a daunting task.
The best systems are flexible and template-driven, allowing
administrators to pre-plan the notification process including "calling
trees" for any number of scenarios such as national emergencies, code
events, hazardous material spills, staffing shortages, natural disasters
and fires. They also allow users to communicate "everyday" notices such
as public announcements and meeting notices.
Critical Procedures
Critical events require critical notification and response assessment
procedures including:
- Notifying the right people quickly and accurately
- Providing the right information
- Executing in an effective and timely manner
- Obtaining information from the respondents
- Escalating to additional respondents if needed
The entire notification process must be managed, monitored
and tracked.
Features of an automated system
When looking at various emergency notification software packages, be sure
that the system is scalable, standards-based and highly configurable to
meet your evolving needs. A robust notification system should be capable
of integrating to virtually all phone switches and paging systems and
support a multitude of protocols, devices, and rules. Other key factors
to consider:
- Notification Process Definition - Does
the system enable you to build templates that spell out the various
people and groups who should be notified when a critical event happens
or an alarm is triggered? What tools are available to quickly and accurately
notify the right people? Are your institution’s "best practices" codified
in the standard procedures?
- Message Delivery - What’s the best
way to contact each person on the list? Alphanumeric pager? Cell phone?
PDA? Can the system send messages to any and all of these devices? What
if some recipients have asked a colleague to cover for them - can the
notification system adapt and send the notification to the covering
person?
- Response Collection - The notification
is out; now people are calling in for further instructions. Can the
system take the calls and tabulate the responses? Can respondents use
means other than the phone to respond, such as 2-way pager, PDA, or
web? Can the system cancel the notification if enough responses are
received?
- Escalation - If a recipient doesn’t
answer a page, can the system automatically call the recipient’s cell
phone? If a group has been notified, but not enough responses have been
received, does the system "know" who to notify next?
- Monitoring - You’ve sent a notification.
Now you want to know how many messages have been sent, how many responses
received, and what the responses were. What tools are available to monitor
these processes?
- Alarms Integration - Can the system
be set up to monitor your alarms and automatically notify critical personnel
when the alarms are triggered?
Premise Systems or Hosted Services?
Most notification providers offer a hosted model, providing a web-based
notification package requiring no special equipment at the customer site
(other than standard computers and browsers) and charging fees based on
usage.
For organizations whose notification needs are mission-critical
and complex, a dedicated premise system might be a better solution.
Premise systems reside at the customer site and are completely "owned"
by the customer, providing the utmost in flexibility and control. They
are ideal for users who have everyday notification requirements in addition
to emergency planning needs.
Some organizations will want a "blended" package incorporating
both a premise system and a hosted service. Ask your system provider if
a blended solution is available.
System data
The notification data - recipient names, contact devices and numbers,
and more - is key to the functioning of the system. Be sure to evaluate
the robustness of the database underlying your vendor’s notification system.
A market-proven relational database such as Oracle or Microsoft SQL will
ensure optimum reliability and programmability, while "flat" databases
will limit a system’s ability to handle complex procedures, locate people
on the move and process incoming responses.
System protection
What if an emergency event disables portions of your on-site notification
system? Your system vendor should provide resiliency options such as an
off-site standby server. In the event that the actual emergency disables
portions of the system, traffic would be re-directed to the standby. Additionally,
a hosted (offsite) notification service can serve as a backup for premise-based
notification systems.
Provisioning the system for major
events
Your system provider should lead you through provisioning to ensure that
your notification system is properly sized. Also ask about options to
ensure system availability such as specifying a fault tolerant hosting
infrastructure, hosted service backup, and working with your organization’s
disaster recovery experts to determine how the system will be protected
during an event.
Not Just For Emergencies
FEMA defines an emergency as "any unplanned event that can cause death
or significant injuries to employees, customers or the public; or that
can shut down your business, disrupt operations, cause physical or environmental
damage, or threaten the facility’s financial standing or public image."
However, notification and response systems can also have
a time and budget-saving role in everyday communications. Training, testing
and measuring communication plans for critical events can play a similar
role as well. Some systems include components such as on-call scheduling
and group messaging. Routine use of these systems - such as calling responders
to see if they’re available for duty or notifying staff of a meeting -
can be a key factor in justifying purchase of the software.
About the Author
Kathy Veldboom is Chief Operating Officer of Amcom
Software, Inc. and has held prior positions as a trainer, installation
technician and systems analyst, performing more than 140 customer system
installations and servicing more than 300 clients. Veldboom has spoken
about automated notification at several conferences including HIMSS, ACUTA,
SASKMUG, INNMUG and Purdue University Call Center Campus. She can be reached
at 800-852-8935 or 952-946-7715.
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