Universal Alert offers its users the ability to communicate to groups via three mediums: Phone, SMS Text Messaging, and Email. Each of these communication options have their own unique positive and negative attributes regarding their effectiveness, intrusiveness on the recipients, and ability for the recipient to respond. A closer look at each reveals when each is best suited and shows how to mix and match the three for the most effective mass communication.
Phone Calls are the quickest way to reach someone, assuming they are available to answer. However, this option is also the most intrusive, because it will likely interrupt the recipient. Recipients can easily key their response into the phone when receiving an alert, and this info is made available in the alert report. Using the phone option on a mass notification is typically best used for an emergency alert or a message whose response is needed quickly.
SMS Text Messages are great to ensure you reach the audience quickly, while eliminating the intrusiveness of a phone call. Many users have their mobile device on them almost all of the time, so the ability of to reach the majority of the recipients almost instantly makes this an excellent medium to effectively reach people. The downside to SMS text messaging is that it does not offer the recipient the option of responding directly. Using SMS Text messaging for mass notification is best used for disseminating a message that is purely informational and does not require a response, such as general announcements.
The final option, Email, does not reach users at quickly, since many recipients don’t check their email often enough for this option to compete with the timeliness of the other two mediums mentioned. Intrusiveness is very low with this medium, since users can get to the messages when they have the time available. Universal Alert’s system inbeds a link in the email sent to recipients, which can be clicked to confirm receipt of the message. So, cumulative responses can be seen with this option, as with the phone medium. Email alerts are best used for messages that require a response, but do not need to be replied to immediately, such as notices of event dates or routine notifications.
Universal Alert offers the power and flexibility to use any one of these mediums, or any combination of the three. Understanding the ramifications of timeliness, intrusion on the recipient and recipient response capabilities is very helpful in determining which options to select when sending a message via Universal Alert Mass Notification System.
For more information on Universal Alert, including a system demo, please visit, www.universalalert.com.
