The Case for Desktop Alerts: Mass Alerts Will Forever Change Mass Notifications

Why Desktop Mass Alerts Will Forever Change Mass Notifications.

Since the mid-to-late 1990s, mass notification systems have been used by government, military, and large-scale construction companies to send emergency alerts during critical events. In 2008, the Clery Act in the United States updated the required standards for emergency and incident reporting for higher education institutions and included rapid response communications as part of their directive.

Over the past several years, mass notification has been adopted more broadly by enterprises, health care, logistics, and dispersed businesses as an essential part of an overarching communications strategy. Along with the typical multi-channel approach of notifications to emails and text, mass notification can incorporate the novel approach of desktop alerts for notifying recipients of critical events or day-to-day communications.

With more organizations embracing remote and hybrid workforces, desktop alerting is proving to be a valuable and popular form of communication. Even in office environments, desktop alerts can provide a simple — yet highly effective — means of delivery of important communications.

What Makes Desktop Alerts Popular

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations (who were able to do so) have sent employees home to work. Now, many reports indicate that these staff members are reluctant to return to office environments and have become accustomed to — and more satisfied with — working from home. According to Statista, 60% of respondents from a global survey of remote workers said they would consider leaving co-located companies in favor of remote roles*.

This can create challenges for organizations seeking to keep their entire team informed of everyday and critical happenings.

Desktop alerts can typically be incorporated into an organization’s communications plan without the need for additional equipment. This makes them a cost-effective addition to more traditional communications methods such as email. Desktop alerts are also effective in grabbing attention. Since most remote employees spend their work days at their computers, pop-up notifications from desktop alerts are almost always seen immediately.

The ease of use and familiar interface can help administrators become quickly adept at sending messages that gain attention and elicit response. Regardless of the application or use, desktop alerts can make a convenient and impactful addition to more traditional methods of communication.

Using Desktop Alerts for Critical Notifications

For critical and emergency notifications, desktop alerts can provide an attention-grabbing alternative to more traditional methods. Because desktop notifications are visual and immediate, and because they are delivered on top of the software used by the recipient, administrators can be assured that their messages are viewed quickly.

Severe Weather Alerts

With multiple locations, or a dispersed workforce, desktop alerts can notify employees that weather conditions threaten their location. When automated with integrations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or the National Weather Service, this type of notification is the first line of defense for protecting employees in the event of hurricanes, tornadoes and other storms. By getting the alert out early and automatically, employees have additional time to prepare or evacuate. Shelter-in-place notifications can also be sent, instructing employees not to leave their immediate area.

Criminal Activity

If a workplace is threatened with an active shooter, suspicious persons or an unruly individual, discreet notifications can be delivered to every desktop. This alerts on-site employees without tipping off perpetrators. Notifying employees in this fashion can mitigate criminal confrontations and allow for better control over the situation. Employees can be given instructions for maintaining their safety and responding to on-site emergencies more cautiously.

Business Interruptions

When production lines are down, raw materials are delayed in transit or other disruptions to daily business operations occur, desktop alerts are an effective way to notify teams quickly and effectively. Desktop notifications to specific teams, team leaders or other stakeholders can help them rally to find alternative solutions and mitigate losses to productivity.

Action Plan

Because remote work is gaining in popularity, desktop alerts make sense for organizations seeking to keep their employees informed. And, because of the simplified administrative and recipient interfaces, desktop notifications are proven easy to use, effective and well received.

Incorporating a desktop alert plan — along with a mass notification platform and solid communications strategy — can help large organizations, multi-site companies and companies with remote workforces stay in touch, reduce mistakes and costs, mitigate risks and improve