When your organization is affected by an emergency, taking every step possible to ensure the safety of your employees and other stakeholders is critical. Using alerts and digital signage that is available through emergency notification software can help to enhance your safety measures.
Table of contents
Why organizations need emergency notifications
Types of emergencies organizations may need to respond to
Benefits of digital signage for emergency alerts
Using DeskAlerts to deliver digital signage
Why organizations need emergency notifications
Organizations have a duty of care to their employees and other stakeholders to ensure that they are safe. When you have hundreds or even thousands of people you need to keep safe, it makes sense to use as many different tools as possible in an emergency situation to ensure that they are alerted to the issue and can take appropriate actions.
Emergency notifications are a critical element that organizations can deploy in response to an emergency. They appear on screens – desktop computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones and other digital screens – letting people know about the emergency and what to do next.
They can be used in conjunction with other emergency alerting measures such as alarms and sirens or alert systems for schools or hospitals and are designed to grab attention quickly.
10 emergency messages - free download
Types of emergencies organizations may need to respond to
Emergencies can take place at any time, often without any advanced warning. This can include:
- Fires
- Active shooters
- Natural disasters
- Intruders
- Acts of terror
- Gas leaks
- Chemical spills
- Accidents
- Illness and injury
- Pandemic related issues
- Severe weather
Benefits of digital signage for emergency alerts
Using digital signage for emergency alerts allows you to use any screen within your organization to broadcast information about an emergency situation. This can include both a warning as well as provide information about what steps people need to take to be safe, for example, having to evacuate or sheltering in place.
Because of the visual nature of digital signage, you can also include visual information such as maps of evacuation routes or even video demonstrations of what steps to take to be safe.
Digital signage is particularly beneficial as part of a multi-channel approach to emergency communication: this is where you use as many tools in your communications toolkit as possible to communicate the same message, increasing visibility. With emergency communications, this means that the more channels you use, the more likely it is your employees will get the information in a time-sensitive manner and be able to take the appropriate steps to be safe.
After all, in an emergency, every second counts.
Using DeskAlerts to deliver digital signage
DeskAlerts is an internal communication software solution that allows you to communicate with thousands of employees simultaneously in a matter of moments, using a range of communication channels – including digital signage.
Eye-catching
The DeskAlerts digital signage function lets you display colorful and creative content on LED, LCD and projection screens within your organization.
These displays are eye-catching and guaranteed to get the attention of your employees.
Override
Emergency alerts can override what is currently displayed on the screens in an emergency situation. You can also choose to display different information on different parts of the screen, such as an alert in one box and a map in another.
Use templates
Save time before an emergency by creating emergency message templates that you just need to populate with the relevant information during an incident, and you will be able to reach thousands of employees in less than a minute.
Targeting
Emergency signages, like all DeskAlerts notifications, can be sent to targeted audiences so that only those who are affected will receive them. For example, if you have a chemical spill inside a manufacturing plant, only those employees will receive the emergency notification – not employees working in your corporate headquarters.
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Discover how to use digital signage for emergency alerts to keep people safe and even save lives in the event of an emergency. Get in touch with us today to find out how our alert signage could work in your organization.
FAQ:
What are the 3 types of emergency alerts?
There are three main types of emergency alerts:
- Wireless Emergency Alerts - which are sent to wireless devices and are often targeted geographically
- Emergency Alert System – a more traditional system which relies on alerts being broadcast over television and radio
- Opt-in alerts – recipients opt-in to a service or app to be alerted to specific types of emergencies.
What are the 4 Emergency Alert categories?
In hospitals and healthcare settings, there are four main emergency alert categories. These are:
- Facility alerts
- Security alerts
- Weather alerts
- Medical alerts
What are the types of emergency alerts?
When there is a critical incident, four main types of emergency alert systems are used to send alerts to people. These are:
- Mass notification systems
- Wireless emergency alerts
- SMS text systems
- Outdoor public warning systems.
How does the emergency alert system work?
In the USA, there is a national public warning system managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The system, known as the Emergency Alert System (EAS) requires broadcasters of TV and radio, cable television, satellite and wireline operators to enable the US President with the ability to address the people of the US within 10 minutes when there is a national emergency situation. It is also used by some state and local authorities in the US to deliver important information to residents.
Who activates the emergency Alert system?
The Emergency alert system is activated by authorized federal, state or local government authorities who have an incident they need to alert residents to.
