MessageNet

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  • The Benefits of Barricading

    In light of the recent shootings at the Navy Base in Washington, D.C., it’s important to think about what our responses should be in an emergency. In situations with an active shooter, locking the door is one of the quickest things to do for people to protect themselves, but it’s often not enough. A locked door isn’t difficult for a determined shooter to shoot or break through. A barricaded door can protect better against bullets and can more effectively prevent an intruder from entering a room or breaking through a door.

    However, barricades take time to create and a messaging system that can get instructions to the correct people in seconds rather than minutes can save many lives. A network-centric emergency communication system such as MessageNet Connections would be able to get a message out more quickly, which is vital in a situation where every second counts.

    Emergency communication systems also needs to be location-aware and to be able to send different messages to different locations. In the event of an armed intruder, a message sent to cell phones wouldn’t be able to provide accurate instructions for everyone, because the same message would be sent out to everyone regardless of location. A system that can send messages out based on location, even including building and room number, could provide instructions to non-affected buildings requesting evacuation, while providing instructions to those in the same building as the shooter to barricade the doors. This would also save more lives, because an action that would save people in one location could endanger people in another unless everyone has the appropriate directions for their location and its circumstances.

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  • The Trouble with Weather Alerts

    We’re often asked if we can automate weather alerts from the National Weather Service. While this is possible with MessageNet Connections, it’s not recommended. Weather alerts are often broadcast to a very large area and aren’t always relevant to specific buildings or locations. Automating weather alert messages also precludes any customization from the message, so all incoming weather alerts are treated the exact same way, regardless of severity of the alert and thus can be inconvenient to message recipients when the alert isn’t an emergency. Weather alerts are better sent automatically to one or two users, who can then determine whether the alert should be broadcast to a larger audience.
    The same considerations also pertain to other types of automated alerts that come from an external source, such as emergency tests and Amber alerts. Any emergency information origination from outside the organization may have a different agenda and a larger constituency, resulting in the need to edit the information or recipients to make the content relevant to your organization.

    Below is an example of the misplaced intrusion of an automated weather alert.

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  • Solving the Problem of Having Too Many Cameras to Monitor

    Recent events are causing a large increase in the number of surveillance and video cameras in public locations. This can cause information overload if the cameras aren’t effectively managed. With more cameras than people to view the recordings, important video footage can go ignored. MessageNet offers a solution to this problem by integrating camera and surveillance systems with a spectrum of external sensors such as sound meters and motion detectors, available now.

    “Video has come to play a huge role in communications technology whether for emergency or everyday use. And while we can record all video footage, catching something significant can be next to impossible in time to prevent an emergency from happening,” says Kevin Brown, CEO of MessageNet Systems. “A lot of surveillance systems’ recorded video is only useful after the fact. In order to address this problem, and catch potential emergencies as or before they happen, we knew we needed to find some way to make the relevant video stand apart from the hours of similar-looking footage.”

    Connections can integrate with such sensors as motion detectors, door-open detectors, glass-break detectors, heat and gas sensors, even sound meters (commonly used in hospitals). These sensors can cause a camera to turn on, begin recording, display a video feed on any network-connected screen, or even send an e-mail.

    “In an emergency situation, it’s vital that the right people are informed as soon as possible, so any potential damage can be mitigated. Connections, as a multi-platform system, can combine different devices in order to do this,” says Brown. “For example, if there’s an intruder in a school, input from a glass-break detector can automatically activate a camera to record the intruder, display the video feed to the security responders, record the video footage for future review, and even launch a notification to anyone who needs to know, or make an automated PA announcement with instructions for students and staff.”

    Connections can provide significant ROI by combining pre-existing systems while leaving room for new additions later on. Investing in an extensive camera system or extending a current surveillance system is ineffective without having a system that can integrate them with technology that can effectively monitor and interpret the incoming data.

    For more information about video, safety and security, please visit:
    http://www.messagenetcommunicationsystems.com/home/products/video-cameras-surveillance-integration

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  • MessageNet PA capabilities

    Most people think of PA as being a simple audio tool. Pick up a phone and speak and your voice will be transmitted to speakers all over the building. While MessageNet does have the capability to transmit to any combination of speakers, our PA system has a lot more to offer.

    • Reply to a PA message via the two-way intercom feature.
    • Record and store thousands of recorded  message for later play.  Most systems limit you to a handful of recorded messages.
    • Schedule recorded messages to automatically play once or repeatedly.
    • Speak live and automatically record what was said for future use and for documentation.
    • Have a typed message spoken aloud through text-to-speech software that supports multiple languages.
    • Flash high-intensity lights to get attention.
    • Have a text message scroll across the PA device.

    These additional capabilities make for a far more versatile and useful system that can meet the needs of many different situations. As an audio and visual PA system, it can be used in environments with deaf and blind people and is also ideal for emergencies, as people can be rendered deaf or blind in an instant by an explosion or other type of disaster.

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  • Cameras in classrooms

    Cameras in classrooms are a valuable tool for a variety of reasons. They can be used for video conferences or for classroom-based morning announcements. They can even be used for classroom observation, which can be a useful resource for teachers to initiate a video recording of incidences in the classroom or to identify and document bullying.

    Cameras can also be vital for emergency situations. Not only can they record an event to be analyzed after the fact, but they can also pop and display live video feeds from the point of interest to staff PCs and digital signage.  Additionally these cameras can deliver live video feed to police, fire fighters, or other emergency responders. Having advanced knowledge of a situation can mean saving more lives.

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  • Record Live PA

    MessageNet already offers one of the most versatile and comprehensive PA systems on the market. We’ve recently added the ability to automatically record any announcement that is spoken live over a PA. This is useful because that same message can be replayed later if its intended recipient didn’t hear all of it, or if it needs to be repeated later East Inflatable Rentals. This allows for more complicated spoken announcements, because users no longer have to worry that the message will be lost or not remembered if it’s too long, since it can always be replayed. This also provides an audit trail, so if there’s been a problem with unauthorized use of the PA, exactly what was said and who said it can easily be found out.

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  • Save a PowerPoint as a Video

    MessageNet Connections users with Microsoft PowerPoint (version 2012 or later) now have the option to save a PowerPoint presentation as a video file. This makes displaying a presentation on a MessageNet MediaPort a lot simpler. PowerPoint presentations have often had many specific settings that need to be correct in order to properly display (as explained in this earlier blog post: Make Power Point Presentations Compatible), so a video, which only needs to be saved in widescreen format, is a lot easier to successfully create and display. Another advantage of the video format is that all transitions and animations are compatible and display on MediaPorts, unlike the .ppt format, which is more restrictive.

    To save a presentation as a video, follow these steps:
    1. Click on the ‘file’ tab and select ‘save & send’
    2. Under the ‘file types’ heading, select ‘save as video’
    3. If you haven’t already set up transition timings, it will ask you to do so next
    4. Save the file (it may take a few minutes for the file to be converted, depending on the speed of your computer)
    5. Finally, upload it to a MessageNet Connections media message and enjoy a nicer presentation that was easier to create

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  • Message Prioritization

    Because MessageNet Connections can be used for both everyday and emergency communications, protocols for message prioritization need to be set up. Too often, users, not wanting their messages to be interrupted by others’, set theirs with higher priority levels, potentially blocking any other messages (even emergency messages) from being displayed or spoken. I recommend that an organization should establish priority standards for each type of message ahead of time so users know what priority to give their messages inflatable water slides.

    The default priority for normal messages is 200. Other every day priority levels can be set around this base. While emergency messages should have higher priority levels, emergencies are not necessarily equal. This is where it’s vital to set priority standards before emergencies happen, so a message about a fire threatening the entire building isn’t blocked by a message about a water leak in the basement that may only damage equipment. Having different classifications for emergency messages can help make choosing a priority level easier. Also, within Connections’ User Database Manager, it is possible to restrict certain users from sending messages with higher than a certain priority, so only emergency personnel can send messages with emergency-level priority, making it easier to control how the priority levels of messages are set up.

    I highly recommend these steps be taken to ensure that emergency communications are reliably delivered and are not lost in the crowd of common daily communications.

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  • Security in Schools

    In an emergency, like the mass-shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, seconds matter enormously. An event of that nature is impossible to predict, and thus impossible to completely prevent, but if improving the speed and effectiveness of emergency communications can save at least one life, then it’s vital to do so. An emergency management and notification system needs to be able to provide specific, relevant instructions to different groups of people, give different sets of information to students, teachers, and parents, and to quickly notify and inform the police or other emergency responders.

    Security features that can warn of an impending emergency are also vital. Features such as glass-break detectors, wireless panic buttons, fire panel integration, audio/visual PA, cameras, and location-aware way-finding can prevent bullying, save lives, and overall make schools a safer place without the hassle, expense, limitations or risk of armed security guards. While a security guard could provide some level of protection, it’s very expensive to employ even one inflatable water slides for sale. Also, a security guard cannot be in more than one room at a time, while cameras can be in every room and can project a live feed to first emergency responders and police, providing situational awareness so they can be prepared for the situation.

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  • Now Offering Combined Audio/Visual Public Address

    Electronic signage has become a mainstay of public communications. Because these types of signs are increasingly used for both everyday and emergency situations, it is important for signs to have both audio and visual capabilities. MessageNet systems’ Audio/Visual PA meets this criteria, fulfilling the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Because these signs are powered over ethernet, they can run on levels of power a long distance from the power source.

    “PoE signs are the optimal emergency messaging tool. When other devices aren’t working because of a power outage, these signs, which use data instead of a power outlet, can function on lower levels of power. They’re also a powerful emergency device because they can deliver information in both audio and visual formats,” says Kevin Brown, CEO of MessageNet Systems. “Audio PA alone is now obsolete. Even if no one in the vicinity is deaf or blind, that can all change very quickly in an emergency. An explosion, for example, can render anyone temporarily deaf or blind and we need to take that into account.”

    PoE signs have a variety of capabilities, including speakers, scrolling text capabilities, and flashers, which can be used to alert people in the vicinity to a new message or to differentiate between normal communications and
    emergency messages. With MessageNet Connections, messages can be scrolled repeatedly and can continue to play after an audio portion of the message has finished. Audio messages themselves can be spoken live, recorded and played later, or typed and spoken as text-to-speech. An important new feature of Connections is that messages spoken live are now recorded as well, allowing for replay either over the speakers or access through the system for later reviewing. Automatically recording a message that is spoken live also creates an audit trail for messages, creating additional accountability for users beyond the already-existing sign-in requirement.

    “In an emergency, it can take too long to record a message. But speaking a message live can have its problems, too. Recording that message allows a user to quickly get a message to people in the area, but can be repeated without that user needing to stay, which could be hazardous in an emergency situation,” says Kevin Brown.

    Connections and PoE signs can be easily integrated with devices that customers have already installed and can be expanded as well. Using digital signage with Connections provides significant ROI because it eliminates the cost of printing, distributing, and installing traditional printed media. Also, only one system is necessary, because it provides both everyday and emergency capabilities and can be used for customer-oriented content or to facilitate staff communication.

    For more information on MediaPort and the Connections server software platform, please visit:
    http://www.messagenetcommunicationsystems.com/home/products/audio-visual-pa-voip/

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