The rise of emergency situations such as intruders, severe weather, etc. has caused facilities to reevaluate their notification methods. Many of these facilities are turning to mass notification systems as a means of communicating during an emergency. So how do they work to better than other forms of communication to distribute emergency messages, what type of facilities should use them, and what are the benefits of having a mass notification system?
Mass notification systems are ideal for large facilities with many occupants or campuses that have multiple buildings on the site. This system has the ability to send specialized messages to certain buildings or a specified area of a facility. In high occupancy or campus type facilities, it’s counterproductive to evacuate everyone if the problem is a small isolated issue. Mass notification uses multiple communication methods to alert a specific group of people or area about the problem.
In today’s society, it’s hard to grab people’s attention. This is the reason why the system utilizes all or certain communication devices such as e-mail, voicemail, text messages, loudspeakers, and digital displays. Typical fire alarm systems send messages through the loudspeaker so that everyone hears the announcement. In some cases, the facility shouldn’t communicate messages through the loudspeaker. For example, you wouldn’t broadcast an escape route if there was an intruder in the facility. In this scenario, the mass notification system may only alert the occupants via text message, e-mail, etc.
As the need to better communicate emergency messages increases more facilities will adopt mass notification systems as a part of their facility’s life safety plan. If you’re considering purchasing a mass notification system for your facility then find out what you need to consider when purchasing an emergency communications system.