By Maya Barak, Senior Marketing Manager at Alertus Technologies

When it comes to a crisis, from severe weather to active shooter incidents, a high-quality communication system helps ensure organizational-wide safety and minimize operational disruption. For government facilities, effective mass notification is not only required but has increasingly become a top priority while navigating the pandemic. 

As a unified mass notification provider for more than 2,000 organizations, including a diverse group of federal and military organizations, Alertus specializes in providing cost-effective, scalable, and comprehensive emergency notification coverage when it matters the most. Backed by two decades of experience, we’re proud to share insight, best practices, and solutions to consider when implementing or enhancing a mass notification system. 

Key Features Checklist: Implementing Comprehensive Mass Notification Across Your Facility

Mass notification systems are designed to disseminate critical information to large groups of people in order to keep them safe and informed. However, not all platforms are created equal. Notification tools can range from simple (i.e., a standalone fire alarm panel) to fully comprehensive (i.e., integrated, facility-wide alerting endpoints).

You’ll want to evaluate systems based on your facility’s unique alerting needs and budget constraints, in addition to the mass notification requirements and guidance set forth in UFC 4-010-01, UFC 4-021-01, and DoD Instruction 6055.17. 

Key features to look for in a mass notification platform:

• Integration capability with existing communication investments, including legacy systems and devices

• Multilayered, redundant alerting

• Modular, scalable offerings

• Intelligible alerting solutions such as voice synthesis 

• Customized, preset emergency templates 

• Targeted alerting

• Alerting devices designed for ADA compliance

• Single point of activation to unify disparate systems and devices under one platform

• Adherence to Federal IT security guidelines and designed for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) environments

Enhanced Alerting for Rapid Crisis Communication

A wide range of enhanced alerting tools are available and ideal for federal and military-based facilities. 

Wide Area Alerting with Giant Voice Systems 

Giant Voice Systems, such as High Power Speaker Arrays (HPSA), instantly deliver highly audible siren tones for large outdoor footprints. In order to reduce costs and enable your ability to scale, look for a mass notification platform that integrates with your facility’s existing systems. Features such as a Text-to-Speech interface can help leverage infrastructure in place to deliver fully customizable spoken alert messages in real time. 

Personal Notification

In addition to traditional email, text, and mobile app notification, using Cell Broadcasting technology, some mass notification systems have the capability to integrate with public warning systems (such as IPAWS) to send geo-targeted alerts to cellular phones, as well as any integrated endpoint devices, to reach everyone on your base — including visitors. With a cell broadcasting-based notification, bulk messages can be sent at once to multiple mobile devices without congesting your network or the need for individual phone numbers or subscribers.

Facility-Based Alerting: IP Mass Notification

In addition to integrating with existing communication investments, consider a mass notification system that leverages your IP network to facilitate emergency notification via network-connected devices. This means existing IP communication tools, such as IP speakers, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, desktop computers, and digital signage could become emergency alerting assets, enabling you to achieve notification redundancy and ensure everyone on site receives the message and safety instructions. 

Audible & Visual Notification

Audible and visual notification is key to achieve organization-wide reach during a crisis and account for all individuals, including those with different auditory or visual ability. Consider incorporating alerting devices which use emergency tone sounders, voice synthesis, and screen display text, to send clear and informative emergency alerts. 

One-Touch Activation Buttons

You can streamline the entire notification process and significantly reduce emergency response times with a true single point of activation. Using a variety of one-touch activation options, from hardware-based scenario-specific buttons to personal WiFi buttons, authorized dispatchers are empowered to save lives with rapid activation of all emergency endpoints simultaneously.