How Desktop Alerts Are Changing Internal Communications

Sometimes it can feel as though everything in the modern world moves so quickly, it can be hard to keep up. We live and work in a culture that is increasingly always switched-on, with information being sent to us through a variety of platforms 24/7.

Your employees are operating in this sort of environment just as you are. When it comes to communicating with your staff, you need a way to cut through all the noise to get your message across.

Desktop alerts are an innovative way to get your messages to stand out. In organizations where they are being implemented, they are changing the nature of internal communications.

A desktop alert is a message that appears on your employees’ computer screens. It can be used to communicate any kind of internal messaging, from emergency information through to important announcements, reminders about events, education and training tips and more.

Traditional internal communications channels don’t always get the job done. Emails, for example, can stay unopened and unnoticed in a recipient’s inbox. Intranet information and messages posted on a site such as SharePoint require your employees to actively go in search of it in the first place.

You can use desktop alerts as a standalone measure to communicate with your employees, or you can integrate them into existing communications campaigns to enhance your efforts.

Some of the great features of desktop alerts include:

• The ability to send your messages in a range of formats including text and video and also to embed HTML links so people can click for more information.
• The ability to target who you would like to send the messages to. You may wish to send your communications to your entire organization, or perhaps you’d just like to send to a group of users such as a specific office or worksite or a work team.
• Getting your messages in front of users no matter what else they are doing on their computers – they will appear regardless of what software or apps they are using.
• The ability to see, instantly, who has seen your messages and who has not.
• Being able to schedule messages in advance – this is particularly useful when you have an ongoing internal communications campaign, you want to time the release of information to your employees to coincide with external announcements or if you work across multiple time zones.
• Scheduling recurring messages – this feature enables you to ensure that the message definitely sinks in by reminding your employees on several occasions.
• Being able to reach your staff no matter where they are. If they work in the field or from home, the desktop alert system will keep them in the loop just like they are in the office.
• Customized templates that match your corporate branding.
• The ability to create templates in advance for a range of scenarios – all you have to do is fill in the details later when you have a specific issue or situation that needs to be communicated.