The new alerting and crisis communication features are a useful addition to our messaging app and provide enterprises and the public sector with completely new use cases for critical events, in crisis situations and in emergencies. With our alerting and crisis communication capabilities organizations can also improve the coordination of teams, task forces and on-call personnel, as well as enhance the safety of their employees. At the same time, our alerting features are more reliable and less expensive than alternative solutions.
The Disadvantages of the Common Systems for Alerting and Crisis Communication
So far, alerts are usually sent via SMS, email, pagers and phone systems. Such systems are usually very expensive and can then possibly not be procured for all relevant employees. These systems are often not very effective either. SMS and email alerts do not generate enough attention for critical events. Sometimes, with pagers, mobile radios, etc., additional devices need to be carried in addition to the smartphone to receive alerts. Most of these systems do not provide good delivery and read receipts. That’s why there is often confusion who has received or seen an alert. Furthermore, these systems are generally not suitable for fast and effective group chats, which are very important for coordinating teams in crisis situations and emergencies. All these disadvantages can be solved for enterprises and the public sector with our messaging app.
The New Features for Alerting and Crisis Communication of Teamwire
Teamwire’s new alerts are priority messages designed to inform recipients of critical events, emergencies, crisis situations or technical disruptions:
– Alerts can be sent easily and quickly in 1:1 and group chats (e.g. to teams, task forces or on-call personnel).
– It is also possible to create dedicated alert chats. These are marked permanently in the chat overview with a red exclamation mark.
– Alerts are received with a special sound on the device to generate enough attention for the critical event.
– Alerts are visually highlighted and marked red (in push notifications, in the chat overview and in chats). Users always have an overview of all important and on-going alarms.
– Alerts can also be automatically triggered through the API by other systems and services and sent to single users or groups. Examples of integrations are control systems, IT systems, alarm systems, IoT/machines, production facilities, etc.
Panic-Button
In addition, Teamwire now has an emergency alarm (“panic button”) for quickly triggering an alert. The emergency alarm is intended for situations in which an employee or security force can not type and every second counts:
– The emergency alarm is easily accessible in the app for the user by a “right swipe”.
– When the emergency alarm is triggered, the user’s position and a voice message are immediately recorded.
– This data is automatically sent to a group chat with an emergency team responsible for the user (Note: the emergency team must be configured for the user through the MDM-system).
– Thereby the responsible team, task force or on-call personnel is informed directly about the colleague’s emergency and can coordinate all necessary measures.
Note: The new alerting and crisis communication features must be activated by the administrator of the customer via Teamwire’s administrator portal. Only then are the functions visible to users in the app.
The Advantages of Alerting and Crisis Communication with Teamwire
The innovative alerting and crisis communication features of Teamwire offer enterprises and the public sector several important advantages:
1. Rapid alertingof teams, task forces and on-call personnel in cases of critical events, emergencies, crisis situations and technical disruptions.
2. Reliable deliveryof alerts to individual users and groups. Even a large number of people and possibly an entire organization can be alerted with Teamwire.
3. The pre-configured distribution listsof Teamwire make the sending of alerts to selected teams, task forces or regions easy, accurate and fast.
4. The group chats of Teamwire are perfect for direct feedback and follow-up communication of alerts.
5. Teamwire’s group chats also enableeffective coordination of teams, task forces, action committees and on-call personnel. Such chats can also be set up based on mission, topic or location.
6. Importantdigital content and documents (such as emergency procedures, evacuation plans, mission photos, technical manuals, etc.) can be quickly shared with Teamwire. This ensures a direct and time-critical flow of information.
7. Teamwire’s alerting and crisis communications capabilities are available on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as on PCs such as laptops and desktops. That means every person can be alarmedon any devices and independent of the location.
8. By connecting third-party systems and services through the Teamwire API, alerts can be triggered automatically andresponse times can be reduced.
9. The alerting and crisis communication is recorded via theaudit-proof archiving of Teamwire. In addition, the system also ensures the strong security, data protection and compliance standards of Teamwire.
10. The usage of the alerting features is intuitive and a simple extension of Teamwire’s standard messaging capabilities. Employees usually requireno training.
11. Teamwire’s alerting and crisis communications features are significantlycheaper than comparable alternatives.
12. The safety andprotection of employeesis improved.
Examples of Use Cases for Alerting and Crisis Communication:
– Failure of IT systems or servers
– Failure of critical infrastructures
– Hacker attack
– Fire alarm
– Evacuation of a site or campus
– Production disruption or failure
– Failure of machines, IoT devices or sensors
– Important maintenance messages from machines
– Delay of a delivery or logistics chain
– Accident of an employee
– Threat situation of a travelling manager
– Emergency of a patient
– Burglary or robbery
– Mission alert
– Terror attack
– Bomb threat
– Natural disaster or heavy storms
– Alarm for on-call personnel
Industry Focus for Our Alerting and Crisis Communication
We focused on the following industries and sectors when we developed the alerting and crisis communication features:
=> Ministries, authorities and the public sector
=> Police, fire department, emergency services and security forces
=> Banks, insurance companies and financial service providers
=> Hospitals, healthcare companies and nursing services
=> Energy and utility companies
=> Industrial, logistics and manufacturing companies
In addition, we are already getting significant demand for the new features from retail and wholesale businesses, from transport, travel and logistics companies as well as from IT and telecommunications service providers.
Further Information
The new alerting and crisis communication features are available as an affordable add-on option to any Teamwire license. For more information about Teamwire and the new alerting and crisis communication features, please contact us.