Marketing Director Alex Leighton says, “These could include emergencies such as transport accidents, crime threats, terrorist attacks, epidemics, industrial plant explosions, fire, flood or adverse weather. Or there could be a need to contact work colleagues about urgent business development and decisions, or changes in work circumstances. There are many diverse applications but the common factor in each case is urgency.”
The new ‘AlertMaster RP’ from Storacall Voice Systems is an alert notification system primarily designed to broadcast high priority messages to recipients in the quickest time without compromising reliability or accuracy. Operating in real time it contacts groups of subscribers based on a set rules to ensure those who are in immediate danger or require the information first are contacted as soon as possible. With one action required to initiate the alert, ‘AlertMaster’ uses the telephone network to dial out to a database of users and keep them informed on any particular situation.
It may be programmed to play recorded information either immediately or after a secure password has been entered by the person who takes the call. It may call out or receive on up to120 lines simultaneously, and the system starts with 4 line capacity supporting ISDN, BRI or analogue trunks. Once called, personnel can confirm that they have heard the message and, if required, give a response indicating the action, which they will take. If they need to, they can dial in to the system to hear it again or hear further details.
The ‘AlertMaster’ can also make contact with required personnel via SMS, email or fax and it will keep trying different communication channels for an individual until it makes contact and will report back on its success rate. Fax numbers may be mixed with voice and paging system numbers so one person can receive Alert Messages via a variety of media. Optionally Text to Speech can be added to the system, so files with a typed message can be converted to speech for the user
‘AlertMaster’ ensures minimum reliance on staff to provide a non-stop notification system. Once the administrator has initiated the alert no further intervention is required. A complete audit can be obtained at any point during or after the alert. Reducing the reliance on staffing such a call centre or disaster recovery unit significantly reduces the overhead and ensures all subscribers are advised quickly. Multiple alerts can be in progress simultaneously allowing an administrator to initiate different alerts depending on how a situation unfolds.
During an alert real time management information is available via screen or printer showing the numbers and individuals dialled and the outcome. Historical information on an alert is archived for auditing purposes, showing whether particular individuals received messages, and at what time.