What is ENS?
The purpose of alerts and warnings is to give urgent and important information to people who are in imminent danger and prompt the necessary actions that will lead to their safety. ENS (Emergency Notification System) are a combination of tools designed for this purpose – technologies that enable the accurate and rapid delivery of messages to people who need to know in order to take immediate protective action and mitigate damage.
ENS are essential mass communication tools in offices, facilities, local communities and schools to coordinate the action of large groups of people during emergencies. But aside from emergency alerts, ENS can also be used to deliver non-urgent information such as community bulletins and announcements for social or cultural events.
What are the properties of an effective ENS?
According to the study by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in a book titled “Emergency Alert and Warning Systems: Current Knowledge and Future Research Directions” ENS should have the following capabilities to be considered effective.
✓ Target Specific Recipients
It should have the ability to only target and reach people (or their devices) who are at risk from the hazard. Fine-grained geotargeting is important to ensure that those who are not impacted by the incident do not receive alerts that do not apply to them.
✓ Customize Alerts
It should have the ability to communicate impact and recommend protective actions that people can understand and can reasonably take with the guidance. Messages should fit the circumstances of each alert recipient. For example, recommending to shelter-in-place may not be actionable for mobile home residents. Advanced notice to evacuate or shelter elsewhere would be more helpful.
✓ Achieve Trust Through Certification
It should be recognized and trusted by the public, emergency managers, other public officials, and the media through certification and compliance checks. ENS providers must be certified in its ability to deliver an alert in a timely manner to all planned recipients and the public needs to know that the delivered message is in fact accurate and is from a trusted source.
✓ Deliver Alerts For All Types of Hazards
The population impacted by hazards is incredibly diverse in numerous ways, including differences in languages, abilities, and technology access. An alert and warning system needs to support this diversity and communicate to each impacted subpopulation effectively.
✓ Work Well Alongside Government Agencies
Numerous public and private organizations either collect information during a disaster, provide information, or both. Therefore, alert and warning systems must work alongside these services. Alerts will need to be easily repurposed for other media or delivery methods.
✓ Collect and Respond to Feedback
Feedback is needed during a crisis. ENS should be able to receive and respond appropriately to feedback from the alerted population to determine its effectiveness. It should also have the capability to provide emergency managers with enhanced situational awareness during an event.
About HAVRION CONNECT
Havrion CONNECT is a type of advanced ENS that connects emergency communication tools through a simplified digital platform. It delivers critical communications directly to any device – from smartphones to large digital displays for clear, customized messaging of any emergency event.
Havrion CONNECT works by pushing evacuation maps, instructions, or other communications to meet specific policies and procedures. From Lockdowns and Evacuations to Health and Wellness announcements and notifications, Havrion CONNECT goes beyond to close the vulnerability gap in an event and reduce exposure.
How Havrion CONNECT Works
Havrion CONNECT solutions run with Docker® containers for edge computing and integration. With Connect, you can: Coordinate devices, applications, and communication platforms virtually; Manage sensors, triggers, devices, and displays on digital floor plans from a single, centralized management console; Build customized evacuation floor plans with static routes and lock down procedures; and Design new levels of building and event security and communication.
Schedule a Virtual Demo to find out if Havrion CONNECT is the right ENS solution for your organization.
