Creative Mass Notification Uses
When organizations look for a mass notification solution, they are often looking for a way to improve safety and communication. They need a way to reach all of their people with critical information that keeps them out of harm’s way. While this is an important goal for organizations to achieve, it often means they do not realize all of the ways a mass notification system can be deployed. They look to solve the one problem that made them seek out a mass notification system in the first place but do not look for what other benefits implementing that system can provide their organization.
Our customers have utilized their creativity and the power of our InformaCast software to solve real-world problems with mass notification features. From helping with water bills to catching troublemakers red-handed, InformaCast customers are doing more with their systems than simply preparing for emergencies. In this blog post, we’ll present ten creative ways our customers are using mass notification to save time and money, protect their people, and improve processes and procedures that go beyond traditional use cases.
1. Urinal Flushing
A K-12 school in Illinois found a creative way to help save money on their water bill using InformaCast. The boys’ bathrooms utilized an automated flushing system for its urinals, however, the school realized it was wasting water by having the toilets flush when the school wasn’t in use. To help minimize their water waste, the school leveraged a contact closure connected to the flushing system to connect with InformaCast. With InformaCast’s scheduled message feature, the school was able to create a schedule to flush toilets only when the school was in use.
2. Shoplifting Surveillance Assistance
A grocery store chain in California installed a sophisticated camera system that could detect suspicious activity in their stores. But they needed a way to alert people that the cameras had detected an issue so someone could respond quickly and prevent shoplifting or other troublesome activities. The chain connected the camera system with InformaCast which was able to send alerts when the cameras detected disruptive activity. This helped alert security personnel quickly so they could check on incidents.
3. Delivery Notifications
The same chain was looking for a way to alert store managers when delivery trucks were arriving. If the loading dock wasn’t cleared and ready, drivers were waiting up to an hour before they could offload, costing the chain millions of dollars in overtime. The IT team connected InformaCast to the GPS system used to track the trucks. When the trucks were getting close to arriving, the GPS system would send an email to InformaCast which would trigger an alert to store managers so they could prepare the loading dock. This cut down on overtime, saving the chain millions of dollars.
4. Bank Robberies
A banking organization in the Midwest experienced a robbery at one of its branches that caused severe distress for its employees. While people outside of the branch knew what was happening, no one inside of the building knew whether or not help was on the way. To help solve this issue in the event of future incidents, the bank has configured an innocuous overhead page to go out within a branch in the event of a robbery. This will signal to people within the building that help is on its way without endangering employees.
5. Remote School Bell Updates
When wildfires impacted K12 schools in southern California, schedule changes needed to be made to avoid endangering students and staff. An InformaCast customer was able to alter school bells for an entire district via the InformaCast Mobile app while they were on their way to work. The flexibility and speed offered by the app meant the district administrator did not need to wait to get to their office and be in front of a desktop computer to make the changes necessary to keep people safe.
6. 911 Pranksters
Another K12 school in Texas was facing a different problem. Students were recklessly dialing 911 on school phones, but school officials were having trouble catching the culprits. Using CallAware and InformaCast Fusion, the school was able to silently send text messages to all of their teachers when 911 was called. The notification included the location of the phone that was used to dial 911, so the teacher closest to that area could respond. Implementing this solution led to quickly identifying those responsible and putting an end to needlessly having calls go out to first responders from the school.
7. Improving Company Morale
An InformaCast partner that utilizes the software in their warehouses discovered through employee satisfaction surveys that warehouse workers were feeling disconnected from the rest of the company. They plan to begin using InformaCast to send non-emergency communications via SMS text messages and push notifications. The goal is to improve company morale with regular messages that keep workers connected and engaged.
8. Ice Cream Warnings
An ice cream manufacturer in the Midwest uses ammonia to kill the bacteria involved in processing dairy. They had localized ammonia sensors that would go off whenever the concentration in the air got too high. This worked to protect those in the immediate area, but it did not account for those passing through the area, such as forklift drivers. Using a contact closure, the manufacturer was able to connect the sensor to InformaCast to trigger plant-wide notifications if ammonia levels get too high.
9. Patient Tracking
A hospital in northern California needed a way to alert staff if patients wandered away from their designated areas. Using RFID tags, patients that wander outside of their area will trigger an alert delivered via InformaCast to quickly alert staff that a patient is at risk. Alerts can even broadcast prerecorded audio messages with the voice of the patient’s loved one, encouraging them to return to their room.
10. Poolside Alerting
A large aquatics center in New York needed a better way to alert people if there was trouble in the pool area. Because this encompassed a large area, including hot tubs, pools, and locker rooms, if someone needed assistance it was difficult to determine where help should be sent. Using InformaCast connected to physical panic buttons put in place around the pool area, guests can easily trigger alerts to staff which include location information.
These are just some of the creative ways InformaCast mass notification is being used by our customers. The software offers flexibility to meet whatever your needs may be, offering you more options for safety, savings, and speed. Visit our InformaCast page for more details.