The MessageNet Blog
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Importance of Multiple Communication Channels –
Layered Communications
Henryville, IN 2012 Tornado Damage
When it comes to the safety of our data, we usually take advantage of redundant hard drives, and even redundant computers. With investments like that, it becomes apparent that other important things should utilize redundancy, as well. Even before our modern age, even burglar alarms have often offered redundancy. So why put all of your emergency communication eggs in one basket?
What if you needed to disseminate a potentially life-saving message, only to have one or many of your usual channels not working, or not working fast enough. Often, cellular networks are overloaded (or sometimes damaged) during times of crises, making SMS text messaging and phone notifications unreliable.
With the recent tornado that went through Henryville, Indiana (which is only a stone’s throw from my hometown), I’ve heard many stories of people not being able to get through the cellular networks. Volunteer firefighters had trouble coordinating their efforts, and families couldn’t even call out to let their relatives know if they were safe or not.
In addition to this example, many other possible scenarios could be discussed in great depth, but I think it’s obvious that the more available communication channels you have, the better.
The next issue, for those with redundant channels, is in how to manage and operate them in a coherent manner. Especially during emergencies, things just need to work – and without much thought or planning.
The elegant thing about MessageNet Connections is that the system basically takes care of all of these concerns. It’s a one-stop-shop.
Layered Communications
Common Easily Avoidable Errors (part 2)- Messages That Never Expire
The following tips are for current MessageNet Connections users. If you aren’t one yet, you can feel free to skip ahead to the next article or keep reading to find out the many ways MessageNet Connections can help you.
Messages that don’t expire can cause all sorts of problems, from the mildly annoying at best to the potentially serious at worst. If a non-emergency message has no set expiration, it can be sent multiple times by users who don’t realise it’s already active or as part of a regular schedule, creating another copy of the message every time it’s sent, clogging up the archive so it’s next to impossible to tell where a problem occurred, who sent it, or when it was sent. At the other end of the spectrum, an emergency message with no expiration can constantly warn students of a mugger on campus that was arrested hours ago, or a chemical spill that has long since been cleaned up. The easiest way to avoid these problems is to make sure a message has an expiration time on it before it’s launched. This is ideal for non-emergency messages, which are more likely to be sent on a schedule. If it’s not possible to set the expiration for a message (sometimes it’s impossible to know how long a message, especially emergency messages, will be needed), knowing how to cancel messages is essential. There are two ways to do this. The first is to cancel the message from the inbox it was originally sent to. Most messages should be sent to ‘sender’ so it’s easier to access them once they’ve been launched. The second is to go to the ‘stop active messages’ screen, accessible from the ‘other screens’ tab, and cancel the messages from there. Any user can see their own messages here and a MGR level user can see all messages.
Common Easily Avoidable Errors (part 1)- Save vs. Save as New
The following tips are for current MessageNet users. If you aren’t a current user, feel free to keep reading to see the many ways MessageNet connections can work for you.
A common mistake a lot of people make is confusing the ‘save’ and ‘save as new’ buttons. This can happen almost anywhere on the MessageNet system, but I’ll use message creation as an example, since that’s where it happens the most often. Since the message editor uses an older message as a template, it makes the most sense to choose a message that has similar properties to the new one you want to create. This makes creating the message a lot faster and easier, but unfortunately opens the window for accidentally deleting the older message. A lot of users will accidentally click ‘save’ instead of ‘save as new’, which saves the new data over the old, then wonder what happened to the original message. Since this is a pretty easy mistake to make, the best way to avoid it is to click ‘save as new’ immediately after changing the message name, then clicking ‘save’ after any subsequent changes.
PC Alerts- What They Are and What They’re Used For
A PC Alert is a small computer program that can be downloaded from the MessageNet website. It’s meant only for receiving messages and it’s how messages are sent directly to computer screens. Unlike an e-mail, which might go unread or unnoticed for a while, a PC Alert message pops up on the computer screen in front of everything else, big and bright, so it’s instantly noticeable. It can be minimized, but not closed, until the message expires. PC Alerts are best used for mass communications. Every person with a PC Alert can receive the exact same message at the exact same time in an instantly noticeable format.
PC Alerts can be downloaded on each computer directly from the MessageNet website. They can be downloaded to either a PC or a Mac and are easy to download on either operating system. They’re one of the easiest ways to contact lots of people at the same time, for any reason. MessageNet systems uses PC Alert to let everyone know when it’s lunch time. PC Alert can be used to send a private message from one person to another or to give mass notifications. They can be used for emergency alerts and have been used successfully in deaf schools, where traditional forms of emergency notifications aren’t practical.
This is an example of PC Alert
Unlike Most Communication Systems: MessageNet Connections
There are a lot of different communication systems out there. So what makes MessageNet Connections special? MessageNet Connections can send messages to just about any device in just about any combination possible. You could send a message to one person’s e-mail address, the TV screen in the office across the hall, the speakers in the room next door, two cell phones, and ten people’s computer screens if you wanted to. In addition to the plethora of every day uses, it’s also a great emergency communication tool. Emergency messages get sent to all kinds of devices, so they’ll get through to everyone no matter what. If one device type fails, the message still gets through. The best part of MessageNet Connections? The combination of every day and emergency use. Most emergency alert systems are rarely used and when an emergency actually does come up, most people might not remember how to use it or only one person would be in charge of it. MessageNet Connections, however, is used every day and anyone user is able to send out an emergency alert if an emergency would actually occur.
The MessageNet Connections software and licenses come with a no-risk, money-back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the software for any reason within 90 days of purchase, you may return the software for a full refund.