MessageNet

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  • Unifying Digital Signage with Safety and Security

    Digital signage has become a mainstay of public communications. In public spaces, it is commonly used for displaying video, PowerPoints and web content. MessageNet Systems greatly extends these common features by offering MediaPort digital signage, a revolutionary, unique and unprecedented way of enabling emergency communications on the same devices used for everyday communication, available now.

    MediaPort’s capabilities also include video-conferencing, as well as real-time live audio and visual public address. Further, these advancements meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and constitute a major part of MessageNet’s success in unifying safety, security and communication systems. MediaPort digital signage, powered by the Connections platform, provides all of this in addition to standard digital signage capability in a much-needed way to address safety and security needs inflatable santa claus.

    “It’s important to have every day and emergency capabilities on the same device,” says Kevin Brown, CEO of MessageNet Systems. “If they’re not on the same device, you can get different information competing for attention. An emergency message could go unnoticed because of a loud video playing on a different screen. With our Connections platform, however, the same digital sign can function as an everyday and emergency device. An emergency message is treated with a higher priority and will pause or override a lower-priority message, so there’s no chance of it getting lost amongst other media.”

    This unification allows digital signage to play a major role in emergency communication. MediaPort provides features such as location-aware evacuation routing, displaying and recording security-camera video, automated alert messages, gives clear instructions, and interrupts any lower-priority messages so that the emergency message is guaranteed to come through. These capabilities can also be used for everyday purposes. MediaPort can also be used for everyday wayfinding, video-conferencing, and displaying videos, images and web pages. Additionally, basic features such as scrolling tickers and text messages can be used to facilitate communications among customers and staff or provide updates of emergency situations.

    Connections can be easily integrated with digital signage 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/digital-signage/

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  • “Tech Accessibility Makes Strides for Deaf, Blind Students” article features MessageNet Systems

    MessageNet Systems was recently featured in an article by the Center for Digital Education.

    To read how MessageNet is providing full and equal access to information at the Mississippi School for the Deaf, click here or visit the following link (will open in a new window):

    http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Tech-Accessibility-Deaf-Blind-Students.html

    We also have a related, quick and insightful video which features how MessageNet is used at Mississippi School for the Deaf:

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  • The Importance of PC Alert

    PC Alert can be used for everyday communication, but it’s used best for emergency situations. Because it can pop through other windows and even through password-free screen savers, PC Alert is ideal for making sure the message can be seen. And because PC Alert can be disabled only by a system administrator, you can trust that any emergency (or everyday) message will reach its intended recipient. To see an informative short video or more information on PC Alert, visit http://www.messagenetcommunicationsystems.com/computer-pop-ups-instant-messaging-pc-alert-for-mac-and-pc/

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  • Now Offering Theater Emergency Management and Security (TEMS) system

    MessageNet Systems is offering movie theaters a much-needed way to address their emerging safety and security needs, in the wake of the recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. This solution, called Theater Emergency Management and Security, or “TEMS,” leverages the power and flexibility of its time- and field-tested “Connections” platform to meet the specific security needs of movie theaters and similar public venues. The solution is available now.

    The shooting in Aurora, Colorado, has underscored the urgent need for such a solution. “The employment of uniformed police officers is a short-term, stop-gap measure meant to reassure patrons, but in the long-term, the presence of an officer or armed guard is not economically feasible and could have the effect of constantly reigniting customers’ fears,” says Kevin Brown, CEO of MessageNet Systems. “To preserve profitability, theaters require a permanent, technology-based solution that is comprehensive and cost-effective, and doesn’t further encumber staff or be obtrusive to customers. Because perpetrators will continue to modify their means and methods of attack, the security system deployed must have the flexibility to evolve to meet these changing demands. Theaters that fail to address these vulnerabilities increase their exposure risk to another tragedy and incur significant financial liability.”

    The TEMS solution utilizes features of the MessageNet’s Connections platform and is designed for theaters and their evolving safety and security needs. The full TEMS feature-set is customizable for each theater but can include devices and capabilities such as door-open detectors, cameras and video, panic and duress buttons, and fire-related emergency management through an interface with existing fire panel equipment. “A typical TEMS integration is affordable, quick to install and easy to use because the Connections platform is designed to integrate, connect and work with existing technologies that are already deployed, while providing the ability to add new technologies as they are needed,” says Brown. “It is easy for a multiplex to install a few cameras and door-open detectors on the exit doors, which can be wirelessly connected to the Connections platform and provide nearly instant notification and situational-awareness to staff and first responders.” TEMS can also provide a significant ROI because it provides daily-use abilities such as preventing theater hopping, quickly handling unruly patrons, supporting digital signage, enabling staff messaging, and more.

    For more information on the TEMS solution, please visit:
    http://www.messagenetcommunicationsystems.com/home/solutions/theater-security-emergency-management/

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  • Effectively Using PC Alert

    While PC Alert is easy to use, convenient for messaging and necessary in emergencies, it can get overwhelming for employees if not used in a strategic way. There are good reasons why PC Alert can’t be disabled and will always pop over other windows

    on a computer, but it can be distracting for employees when they find their work being interrupted, unnecessarily. Thus, it’s important to consider limiting the messages that come through over PC Alert to only the most important messages and their targeted audience. Like the boy who cried wolf, if people are constantly receiving messages unnecessarily through PC Alert, it can diminish the importance and impact of an actual emergency message.

    While PC Alert is easy to use, convenient for messaging and necessary in emergencies, it can get overwhelming for employees if not used in a strategic way. There are good reasons why PC Alert can’t be disabled and will always pop over other windows on a computer, but it can be distracting for employees when they find their work being interrupted, unnecessarily. Thus, it’s important to consider limiting the messages that come through over PC Alert to only the most important messages and their targeted audience. Like the boy who cried wolf, if people are constantly receiving messages unnecessarily through PC Alert, it can diminish the importance and impact of an actual emergency message.
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  • Security at the London 2012 Olympics

    For the 2012 Olympics, London, which already had a large number of security cameras, did everything from install surface-to-air missiles to surveillance systems for infectious diseases. One of the most important innovations for the Olympic Games, however, is probably the introduction of the Apollo network. For the first time in Olympic history, Private Mobile Services Radio provider is a sponsorship category. Airwave, the company that built the Airwave Network, in use by London emergency services since the emergency communications debacle of the 2005 bombings of the London Underground, is the official sponsor in that category. For the London Olympic Games, Airwave built a completely new communications network, called the Apollo Network, that was separate from the existing emergency services Airwave network. This network ensures communication across London with no interference from other radio systems. Airwave also improved the existing emergency services radio network, increasing its capacity, especially in the areas where security would be of bigger concern.

    Radio communication was first proposed in London after the mobile phone network, which had been the primary emergency communications system, was overloaded during the aftermath of the bombing of the London Underground. Since then, the Airwave radio network, implemented in 2006 as the Connect Project, has proven to be exceptional, especially underground, and secure and efficient. The Airwave network was tested by a real emergency situation in during the 2011 riots. This made the network ideal for the increased security measures taken for the Olympic Games, although a separate network was required in order to retain the same levels of efficiency and resilience.

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  • Reliance on Mobile Phone Services

    Mobile phone technology is ubiquitous in our culture. Nearly everyone has a mobile phone, and given the recent developments of their capabilities, it’s easy to see why. Phones can function as GPS units, mobile media devices and mini computers in addition to the more basic features such as text messaging, e-mail, and phone calls. Perhaps because of this as well as the widespread use of such devices, many emergency communications services rely on mobile phones to disseminate emergency messages and alerts. This has resulted in varying levels of success.

    In some emergency situations, mobile phones have provided most, if not all, of the emergency communication. In the recent shootings at the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, people trapped inside the temple used cell phones to contact those outside. One woman phoned her niece from inside a cupboard to warn her not to go near the temple. While this event was horrific, it was on a small enough scale that mobile phone technology was the best form of emergency communication. Reaching small numbers of people doesn’t overload a mobile network, while an event on a larger scale, such as the London Subway Bombings in 2005, the reliance on mobile phone communication overloaded and crippled the mobile phone networks, essentially rendering the emergency response departments unable to communicate with the victims or with each other. In large-scale emergency events, mobile phone emergency communications have proven themselves to be unreliable.

    Having multiple modes of emergency communications, such as radios, digital signage, speakers, and alarms, can often save lives where a single mode of communication could fail. Even in small-scale emergencies, while mobile phones have proven useful, it’s impossible to predict the nature or scale of an emergency ahead of time. It is also impossible to predict how an emergency will be perceived by the people involved. A low-risk situation could still cause wide-spread panic that overloaded a network.

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  • Smarter Security in Movie Theaters and Public Venues

    First, I want to express both my own and my company’s genuine shock and sadness about the horrific attack in Aurora, Colorado during the early morning of July 20. The tragic violence of a mass shooting at a movie theater during the premiere of a big movie like The Dark Knight Rises has me, like so many others, trying to understand what happened. And because I work with emergency communication systems for a living, the issue of warning and potential prevention is foremost on my mind, as I try to grapple with what happened that night.

    Perhaps the bigger picture of this horrible tragedy and the implications for theater security will become clear in the weeks and months to come; but at this moment, I can’t personally help to think how this could have been prevented or mitigated. We (not only as a business, but as a society) have the technology, the know-how, and the ability to at least mitigate these types of situation — and to do so simply, easily and inexpensively; so it absolutely confounds me that this shooting was able to run its course the way it did. It’s at least a good thing that the shooter’s gun jammed and hopefully prevented him from expanding his attack even further.

    A major, yet simple component that comes to my mind is a simple door-open detector (either wired or easier-to-install wireless). These devices are even cheaper than the standalone emergency exit alarms that can be found in many retail outlets, and can integrate with other systems. We have installations that use these to monitor access to secure areas, already; so, I have no trouble envisioning a system in which an automatic door-open notice is sent to a Connections server, which can then automatically (and instantly) alert staff to a potential problem (at least to prevent theater hoppers from seeing free movies, I would think). What if someone in the box-office or some other staff had known that an exit door was suspiciously propped-open at the start of a movie? Wouldn’t they at least go shut it? I really cannot help but wonder if such a simple action, if in-place, may have helped mitigate or prevent this tragedy, altogether.

    Also, most movie theaters use digital projectors, these days. What this suggests is that a warning message could conceivably be shown on the big screen, potentially just as easily as our Connections product can send video content to LCD screens. So, even if the shooting were allowed to begin in the first place, a system integrated into the digital projector could have at least instructed people in each of the individual theaters what to do (shelter in place or direct them to customized evacuation routes for each theater). On the other hand, perhaps a stand-alone dedicated device (like an LCD flat screen or LED sign board) might be better, in case patrons would confuse the message with the movie content. Either way, clear instructions are a “must.” According to witness accounts, the Aurora theater’s fire alarm system was activated very soon after the shootings began, prompting some to begin evacuating; but by some witnesses’ accounts, the assailant began to target people who were trying to evacuate. This is one example, if horrific, of why we need ways to communicate specific details and instructions (even if pre-defined), rather than simplistic notification alarms which have limited meaning.

    As I said, perhaps a clearer picture will come out later, but it appears to me that if there were time to activate the fire alarm, there would have otherwise been enough time to activate a smarter emergency communication system that could have potentially saved lives.  I firmly believe that with the available technology and know-how that exists these days, disasters like this can be lessened considerably or prevented altogether.

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  • Creating a Personal Directory with MessageNet Connections

    The User Directory of MessageNet Connections can be organized in many different ways. You can view other users based on their department, last name, organization, group, lists they’re a part of, or any number of other ways. But what about contacts that aren’t users in the Connections system? The contact information for non-staff is still important for any company or organization that needs to be stored for the organization so it’s not lost if someone leaves. That’s where the Personal Directory comes in. It’s part of the User Directory and can be viewed the same way as a department or a group, but those outside contacts are visible only to the user that added them. These personal contacts can be  customers, vendors, clients, personal friends, or any contact that isn’t already a Connections user. This feature allows users to quickly dial contacts from outside the Connections database, storing them just like other Connections users for ease of access and use.

    To add a new personal contact, click on the ‘name’ header above the list of people’s names in the User Directory. Connections will then ask for information about that contact, beginning with first and last name and including everything from phone number to e-mail address. The contacts added in this way appear on the User Directory screen the same way as other contacts, but with a ‘P’ icon to indicate that the entry is a personal contact. The user can even add all of the same information for a personal contact as is available for defining new users. This option makes organizing contacts easier, so all contacts, whether they’re users on the same Connections system or not, can be stored in the same place.

     

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  • The Benefits of a Browser-Based System

    MessageNet Connections is browser-based, meaning that it is launched directly from a web browser, such as Firefox or Chrome. Even though those two browsers (especially Chrome) are preferred for the best experience, this allows users to sign in on whichever web browser they feel most comfortable using, whether that is Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, or most other web browsers. This also means that users can sign in to their own Connections account on any device that supports a web browser. This can include iPads, iPhones, Android phones, Android tablets, and other mobile devices, so messages can be sent, signs tested, and more, all on the go. MessageNet Connections can also be used on any computer, which is useful for users who work at multiple locations throughout the day. You don’t have to worry about forgetting to sign out, either. Connections automatically logs off in the original location when a user signs in on a different device. You can even log in to MessageNet Connections from home, on vacation, or anywhere, if you have a VPN or external access to the server’s network.

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