Customization, using social media and pushing out safety routes just some new capabilities of mass notification systems (MNS).
Anyone who says the use of mass notification is a new trend for education institutions and communities doesn’t fully understand it. Mass notification is as old as communication itself. Paul Revere blasted a verbal warning that “the British are coming.” The Cold War broadcasts interrupted TV shows with the message “this is a test of the emergency broadcast system.” Local volunteer fire departments conduct regular fire drills at the elementary schools. Some schools already send campus-wide text messages with class cancellations.
What has changed about mass notification is the methodology, the granularity and specificity of the message, and the customization to individual recipients or groups. Mass notification itself is a general term. With respect to critical events, the capability better fits into the category of “mass communications,” in which an organization sends a message through a communication channel to a large anonymous group of people and/or organizations.
So when did the transformation to modern mass notification systems (MNS) occur? Despite the advances through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, nearly every critical event during these time periods was characterized by dangerously ineffectual communication.…Read More