Presented by: Introduction

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Introduction

With the rapid pace in which technology is advancing, even Emergency Notification Systems (ENS) implemented a few years ago can quickly become outdated and lead to an ENS failure. The 2015 Emergency Notification System Checklist is designed to help organizations evaluate ENS capabilities to better ensure that when disaster strikes their ENS is capable of doing its job.

All too often it takes an actual disaster to expose weaknesses in existing Emergency Notification Systems, as well as the conduits used to transmit those messages. During an emergency situation, when every second counts, is clearly the worst time to discover those shortcomings and in some cases they can lead to unnecessary loss of life.

Those past events do, however, offer many lessons that can help others in evaluating ENS capabilities to better prepare for a future emergency. For example:

During Colorado’s Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012 the ENS failed to deliver around 20,000 critical alerts about evacuations. While the system had reportedly been tested over 200 times and activations from 5,000 - 15,000 people had been completed, it had never been used on that scale before (i.e. sending 100,000 critical alerts). An important lesson learned here is that when selecting an ENS it’s critical to ensure it’s the right match for your organization’s specific needs; then test the full range of those capabilities in emergency drills. If you would need to send a high volume of critical alerts during a disaster, simulate the exact steps you would take in your emergency response and crisis communications plans - then evaluate how the ENS performed.

In New York on 9/11 and again in New Orleans in 2005 following Katrina, cell providers failed. Jumping ahead to 2012, during Super Storm Sandy even though millions of people were without electricity, refinements made to the cellular network infrastructure following other disasters kept most cell phones online. This empowered government officials and residents to share critical information via social media; illustrating the importance of utilizing multiple communication paths during a disaster situation.

Not all Emergency Notification Systems are created equal and the 2015 Emergency Notification System Checklist was created to provide you with a baseline for the standards and capabilities of a truly robust, capable emergency notification platform.

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regroup.com | [email protected] | (917) 746-6776

The easiest, most effective solution for mass messaging and emergency notifications.

Messaging Capabilities

Key Features & Benefits:

Unlimited Text (SMS) Messages

Unlimited Voice Alerts

Unlimited Email Messages

Unlimited Group Creation

Unlimited Number of Contact Paths

Unlimited Social Media Messaging

Real-Time, Two-Way Messaging Capabilities (both email & text)

Supports Multimedia (Images, Audio, Video, Attachments)

SMPP (Direct) Text Messaging

Dedicated Short Codes for Emergency Text Alerts

Scheduled Messaging

Customizable Call Throttling

Geo-Targeting Messaging

Customizable Grouping of Recipients

Texting in to Join a Group

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Messaging Capabilities Continued…

Unified Dashboard for Simultaneous One-Click Messaging to:

Mobile Devices (Cell Phones, Tablets, Pagers, PDA’s)

Landline Telephones

Email Addresses

Website Portals

RSS Feeds

Twitter & Facebook

Desktop Alerts

Alert Beacons

Digital Signage

Public Address Systems (includes Fire Alarms with PA capabilities)

Outdoor "Giant Voice" PA Systems

Outdoor Warning Sirens

Public/Private Message Boards & Forums

IP/PBX (including extensions)

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Triggered Alert Capabilities:

By emailing into a unique email address to initiate an email, text message & TTS

By texting into a user group to initiate an email, text message & TTS

Using open standards (CAP/XML two way capabilities (inbound/outbound), etc.)

Automatically through National Weather Service Feeds (NOAA)

Automatically through IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System)

Regroup Messaging API

Administration Capabilities

Key Features & Benefits:

Intuitive & Easy to Use Admin Interface

Two Administrative Levels (Network Admin & Group Admin)

Multi-Level Admin Permission Controls

Unlimited Message Template Creation

Both an Opt-In & Opt-Out System

Enhanced User Account Management

Streamlined Data Uploads

Automatic Database Synchronization

Single Sign-On Integration

Integrates with Blackboard Learn

Integrates with Ellucian Products like Colleague, Portal, Banner and Luminis

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Custom Registration Embeds

24/7/365 Phone Support

Easily Accessible Knowledge Center

Unlimited Number of User Activations

Unlimited Training Sessions at No Additional cost

Reporting Capabilities:

CSV response files read error messages, formats records & auto submits for reprocessing

Voice reporting provides detailed information on voice & TTS alerts

Message response reports confirm delivery of email and text notifications

Administrator notifications are sent when users update their information via the website

Technical Details

Key Features & Benefits:

Single Sign-On integration LDAP, Active Directory, ADFS 2.0, CAS, Shibboleth, SAML and more

High reliability via system redundancy

Failover and fault tolerance among “downstream” network providers

SIS integration via simple batch interfaces or via API integration

APIs available for customization and integration

Data cleansing and integration tools for ensuring contact data is up-to-date and accurate

Easy to use interface for Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) for both outbound and inbound alerts

Performs Custom Development to Satisfy Unique Client Environments

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Security & Redundancies:

Geographically Positioned Data Centers

SSL Security

OS-Level Firewall

Authorization Bypass Security

Cross Site Scripting (XSS) Security

Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Security

SQL Injection Security

SAS-70 Compliant

Conclusion

Now that you’ve gone through the checklist and compared it against your current Emergency Notification System’s capabilities, you should have a better understanding of whether or not it has the ability to meet your needs during an actual emergency.

If through this comparison you determined that your current ENS may not perform as needed and/or feel you could be paying more money for lesser capabilities, then it’s very well time to evaluate other Emergency Notification Systems.

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Free Consultation

Regroup would like to offer you a complimentary demonstration of our highly capable, cost-effective Emergency Notification and Mass Messaging platform, customized for the specific needs of your organization. This will enable you to see first-hand how your current ENS stacks up against Regroup’s robust mass messaging platform, as well as offer you the opportunity to compare price points. The free consultation will demonstrate how Regroup will enable your organization to:

Expedite Response Time: During a disaster, Regroup’s easy-to-use platform will enable you to

instantaneously send thousands of messages per minute to your entire network or select groups. Regroup also acts as another member of your Emergency Response Team by offering 24/7/365 day a year support, adding to your internal resources and ensuring constituents receive important communications.

Stay Up-to-Date in Real-Time: Events move quickly and situations change moment-by-moment during a

disaster. When lives are on the line, real-time two-way communication with both internal and external incident response teams ensures the continuous flow of the most current, up-to-date information. Administrators will be empowered with the ability to receive feedback from members as to their current status, while relaying that information to search and rescue teams.

Send Targeted Messages to Groups: Unlimited group creation enables you to categorize members of

your network into function-specific groups, such as security staff, local law enforcement, and emergency medical services. This allows you to easily send specific, targeted messages to key groups of people. During a disaster situation, it’s critical to have the ability to rapidly communicate with the applicable members of your network, either as a whole or individual groups.

Increase Reach and Penetration: It’s essential to send messages across multiple communication

channels in order to respond effectively to a disaster. With a multi-modal ENS you can easily communicate with members in the way they can receive messages at the time. The ability to reach your network through social media, cell phones, landlines, email and other modes increases the penetration rate dramatically by reaching your members using all of their preferred contact methods.