Definition, History - Emergency Notification System
What is an Emergency Notification System?
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While humans have always needed some means of rapidly relaying information in the event of an emergency, the technology known today as an emergency notification system is a relatively new development that utilizes software to relay information using mass communications technologies. Early emergency notification systems closely followed the creation of the radio and telephone and have evolved significantly from these origins. Emergency notifications today utilize software to relay information using mass communications technologies and devices including mobile/cell phones, SMS/text messaging, emails, pagers, PDAs, TTY/TDD, IP telephones and computer desktop alerts.
The History of Mass Alerts Systems in the United States
A national emergency alerts system has been in place in the United States since the early 1950s, when CONELRAD was established to alert the nation in event of an anticipated of a Soviet bombing attack. This emergency alerts system was superseded in 1963 by the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) which was itself superseded in 1998 by the Emergency Alerts System (EAS). Unlike modern emergency notification software, these systems relied on a combination of technology and manual action to spread messages, but show the critical importance of good communication in an emergency. The technology of the EBS and EAS is vastly superior to that used decades ago, but all worked to provide a method for messages to rapidly proliferate across the nation in event of a true national emergency. So far in its use, the Emergency Alerts System has been the source of weather and storm advisories and occasional state and local emergencies, rather than a method for massive national disaster response mobilization.
Emergency Notification Acceptance On the Local Level
On the state and municipal government, school/university and private business level, emergency notification systems are only very recently being introduced in lieu of more archaic systems. However, modern security and safety threats faced by larger organizations, notably the implications of the tragic events at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, have awakened organizations to the importance of being able to respond to an emergency quickly and effectively. Antiquated systems, such as the phone tree, disseminate messages by contacting a manually created list of people who then call X number of people, who, in turn, call X number of others, etc. This process is slow, tedious, and breaks down if someone on the list is inaccessible. These systems also fail to account for the many communication devices available to reach people in today's world, and may result in a delayed or ineffective response in event of an emergency.
Challenges Faced by Archaic Emergency Alerts Systems
Some emergency response systems currently in use face problems of complexity and scalability. For example, some universities will use the main university's home page, email distribution lists, an emergency hotline and word-of-mouth to spread a message among departments and offices on the campus. Managing multiple data locations, such as these, significantly increases management time to ensure all systems support the same message. In addition, these systems do not use all available communication devices to contact students and faculty and rely on the recipients to check the appropriate sites for information.
In contrast, software-based Emergency Notification Systems allow for a single user to initiate a chain of communications that will ultimately reach everyone on a pre-defined list via a multitude of communication devices. The PURVIS Emergency Notification System features the ability to separate recipients into groups, schedule notifications, and import data from a number of sources (MySQL, SQLServer, Oracle, etc.). Real-time monitoring and historical reporting make tests significantly more effective, and can help provide a clear picture as to the effectiveness of the system. This greatly increases confidence in the system in event of an emergency.
A True Solution for Rapid Response in Today's World
All this and more results in a rapid, cohesive response to an emergency and effective communication for mundane alerts such as office closures, inclement weather alerts, policy notices, etc. Organizations of all sizes trust the PURVIS Emergency Notification System to deliver their message rapidly when communication is needed most; see how the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Red Cross uses our system to activate first responders within two minutes.
If your organization is evaluating a new emergency notification procedure, our system may be the right match for you. We offer several purchasing options and optional features specifically for universities, corporations, and first responders.
Contact us to learn about the emergency alerts software used by government agencies, schools, private organizations and businesses.
