One of the main concerns that must be addresses in disaster plans is how a company will communicate quickly and effectively to its employees during such an event. During a disaster, ensuring timely, succinct and coherent communications can make a huge difference in dollars lost and more importantly, help reduce injuries and casualties in the event of a major disaster.
So what do most companies’ disaster plans rely on? Unfortunately, the communication in disaster plans usually depends on some sort of a chain of communication, where staff notify subordinates, either via phone, email, or in person: Higher ups notify Managers, who notify Supervisors, and so on and so forth. On paper, the plan sounds feasible; however, realistically speaking, these methods are fraught with problems.
Typically, the first method with chain-of-communication plans is to email everyone in the chain. Unfortunately, this does not let you know who got the message and the timeliness can be less than desirable in a crisis situation. Lacking the knowledge of who has been notified ensures confusion will occur. Verbal communicating through the chain, either in person or via phone, solves this issue. However, with verbal communication the message inherently gets distorted as it moves down the chain. Also, timeliness is not efficient here either, and the recollection of data regarding who has received the message becomes very cumbersome. Finally, the inherent chaotic nature of a crisis ensures that a link somewhere in this chain breaks, and as the old saying goes, “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”.
So what’s the solution? Implement a system that can efficiently contact all the required recipients with ease, and that will let you know who has acknowledged the message. Using Universal Alert as an emergency notification system does exactly this and alleviates the communication headaches involved in a disaster plan. With one click or a single phone call, all of the necessary recipients can be contacted, quickly and uniformly. The system can be set to repeatedly attempt to contact recipients, ensuring that every attempt possible is made to reach them. Also, the diverse delivery options allow you to reach out via text message, cell phone, land line, email, mobile device or any combination of these. Finally, knowing who has been contacted and who has not is as simple as clicking on a report button.
So why don’t all companies have this in place for their disaster recovery planning? Unfortunately, the answer is usually due to cost or ignorance. Although a system like this can be had for as low as $290 per year or $29 per month, companies often decide to forgo this expense. However, Universal Alert serves not only as an emergency notification system, but also is an invaluable tool to communicate routine notices to employees. Info on company events, meetings, scheduling, praises and awards, or any other pertinent information can be communicated easily. Most companies find that having Universal Alert saves money by automating these types of routine communications. Even without the added factor of ensuring a complete disaster preparedness plan, Universal Alert makes sense.
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Is your company in the precarious situation mentioned above? In today’s world, ignoring an issue like this means putting your company at risk. Universal Alert offers an efficient way to communicate and has become an essential tool for the modern company. For more information, including demos and pricing, please go to www.universalalert.com