Mass Notification

Higher expectations are placed on institutions that are responsible for the more vulnerable in our society which includes hospitals, senior and assisted living, and schools. Mass notification plays an integral role in an emergency preparedness planning.

While you can’t control all the causes of emergencies, certainly not the weather, you can control how you prepare, plan and respond. Emergency preparedness planning needs to embed communications into their disaster recovery scenarios.

With the tools available to us today, we can monitor and alert in real-time. We need to interface this with the ability to communicate appropriately – right person at the right time. This requires a system that can incorporate a variety of communication media – voice, text, email, etc – as well as the rules to determine when, who and how communication will take place. Best practice indicates that this should be automated.

Putting Emergency Notification into Effect

Event Triggering

In addition to communicating through voice calls, text messages or email messages, Status Solution’s SARA can also ensure other devices are activated such as sirens, strobe lights or pre-recorded voice messages played over paging systems. The more ways people can be notified of special, emergency situations the better.

After the situation is resolved, people can once again be notified the situation has been resolved.

The ability to simultaneously trigger multiple notification capabilities to multiple constituents is the essence of mass notification.

Alert Groups - Planned Notification

Not every ‘emergency’ is the same or will require the same notification treatment.

It will mean different groups of people are notified at different times. For example a power outage versus a fire. In the former it may require maintenance personnel as the first notification. If those personnel deem that the situation needs escalating, a second tier of alerts can be processed. In the case of a fire, everyone, including local fire departments, should be notified immediately.

Status Solutions SARA is flexible enough to set up alert groups to handle all eventualities.

Automated Alerting and Escalations

Notwithstanding that voice calls may provide the most immediate response in certain situations, there are times where email or text may be more appropriate, especially where more information is required. Not only do they offer a form of ‘redundancy’ but people don’t have to memorize everything and can refer back to the text or message. Some examples of supported communication devices:

  • Desktop alerts
  • Mobile dashboards
  • Smartphones
  • Landlines
  • Pagers
  • Two-way radios
  • Public address systems
  • Strobe lights
  • Emails
  • CCTVs
  • LED wall boards

Smarter Mass Notification

The ability to provide more intelligence and automation to the task creates smarter mass notification. Because the Status Solution’s SARA system is based on an intelligent rules based engine, it can be pre-programmed to set up to run any number of different mass notification rules.

Mass Dialling is Still Important

Even today, sending out voice communications is still an effective, if not the most effective, means of communicating information. Status Solution’s SARA has mass-dialling capabilities and can interface with landlines or mobile phones. Even for schools wanting to notify students and parents about school closings or lack of bus service, the best and fastest mode of communication is a voice call with a pre-recorded message. People may not check email or text messages as quickly as a voice call.

Multi-Purpose System

The Status Solution’s SARA can perform mass notification extremely well and cost-effectively. But it can support environmental monitoring, mobile duress, security and much more.

Usually there is one compelling challenge that requires solving immediately and a short term answer using a discrete tool is found.

Organizations are finding that by using a multi-purpose solution like Status Solution’s SARA, staff only have to learn and manage one system.

Wireless, Not WIFI

Status Solutions can be installed anywhere as it is based on a wireless MESH system.

Status Solutions uses a series of wireless repeaters that simply require AC power and can cover vast distances. This means a Status Solutions system can fit into any environment, quickly, simply and cost effectively.

Wireless MESH is not Wifi. It does not require expensive WiFi access points, does not suffer from Wifi interference and does not load or require upgrades to your data network.

A Wireless MESH solution allows Status Solutions to pinpoint the exact location of mobile duress buttons

Detailed Reporting

Detailed reporting means that organizations can both improve adherence to life safety and security plans while also providing proof that actions took place at the specific time.

For public sector organizations Status Solutions provides complete reporting of every alert, the time the alert was received and acknowledged and the time the alert was resolved.

Full Integration

Status Solutions can integrate into a complete range of existing safety systems control panels and sensors such as:

  • Access Control
  • Security Panels
  • Fire Panels
  • Motion detectors
  • Audio Sensors
  • Glass-break detectors
  • Security Cameras
  • Building management systems
  • HVAC
  • Boilers
  • Pools/Spas
  • Fridge/Freezer temperature monitors
  • Moisture/Humidity Detectors

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