MessageNet

Tag: message

  • 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.

    —

    , , , ,

  • 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.
    Path:

    —

    , , ,

  • What’s in a Message?

    Messages101There really is a lot more to a message than what one might typically think.

    The typical everyday messaging we think about might include basics like phone calls, SMS text messages and emails. The common denominators of channels such as these include just a few basic aspects: sender, recipient, message, and perhaps subjects and/or attachments.

    But what if, for example, you wanted to send a message to a team member about a task that needs to be done by 1pm? After 1pm, the message, as originally conceived, either becomes irrelevant or another totally different message needs to be sent. In this example, another aspect — say, expiration — comes into play.

    Now, as another example, what if you are sending a message to multiple people — some of which may have hearing or visual challenges? Obviously emails or phones, alone, may not get your message across to all of your recipients. So, let’s add another aspect: media type (e.g. flashing lights, beeps, or text-to-speech).

    Here’s a simple self-explanatory one, that no other solution has really seemed to address, but we all want: scheduled message sending! We even want to simply schedule a text-message on our phones from time to time, right? (at least, I know I do)

    Within Connections’ message definition editor, a message can be defined in all of these ways, and more. In fact, this one single screen arguably has the most options of any other screen in our product… and for good reason.

    I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg, here; but suffice it to say, truly effective messaging needs to consider many more things than we are used to thinking about.

    If you want to learn more, please take a look, particularly, at some of our case-study videos, in which existing customers explain the unique ways they use their Connections system, in real life.

    Our features page also provides some insightful examples.

    —