The best way to quickly clear your building with a single phone call and recruit available resources to eliminate panic and maintain control.
In days of a disaster, terrorism, fire, or extreme activity have a plan that will work.
When a disaster or situation appears what do you do? Drop everything and run around the building saying everyone to assembly area 1 or a similar location.
Furthermore when you have everyone rounded up then it's time to call outside help to cover the situation. It may be ambulance, fire, police, or special services whatever the occasion requires.
However it is in a time of panic and many things will fail, did the guys in the yard get called, is everyone out of the building, who will call the owner, we need help here.
It may never happen to you but if it does lives depend on you and your reputation is on show for the world to see.
What can you do in this situation?
In Australia (and other countries) we have a disaster service that takes many of the challenges out of disorder and panic.
Most people now have a device with them that can receive a message or they are in an area where a phone connection is available. These days many devices are multi-media and receive calls, SMS, emails messenger, etc.
However this still comes with problems, usually, the first thing to go with a form of disaster is power and many people restrict mobile activity during the work day.
Some staff are at home others out of the office and the boss is at the golf course.
You don't have time or space to make a dozen or more phone calls as you run to an exit when your own life depends on time.
Finally, time is of the essence so use it wisely.
Our solution to a problem.
A special phone number is provided to you for specific use in a situation that requires action.
It can be called by a fixed phone or mobile phone with or without the pin or password access.
The easier the access is the greater the ability to use it.
Next, the caller speaks a specific message relating to the situation and what needs to be done.
Finally, the message is recorded and ready to send out but who does it go to and how is it sent?
| Name | Number | call | SMS | active | delete | |
| Andrew | 0402xxxx | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Brian | 0423xxxx | Y | Y | N | ||
| Graham | 044Ixxxx | Y | Y | |||
| June | 0412xxxx | y | Y | N | ||
| Edith | 0411xxxx | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Police | 0435xxxx | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Ambulance | 089222xxxx | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Fire | 08920421xx | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
In conclusion, this dashboard is active at all times and can be changed by your authorized people at any time.
Then finally the multi-media of contact ways ensures that everyone gets at least one method of contact. The number of contact points is unlimited for both inside and outside contacts.
A great reporting feature
Your planning must be done first however base it on reality.
At the conclusion of an event full details of all activities are supplied. You know who responded and how long it took. This is great for post-activity planning and making those changes that will make a difference.
In the case of a later inquiry where things went wrong, you can show that all care was taken by you to maximize evacuation and reporting.
Everyone is in the loop
Sometimes a problem is created when senior personnel are not onsite and are difficult to contact. This method ensures that every possible way was used and that management can asses the conditions remotely and remain fully informed. Even when or if traveling overseas.
The original verbal report is available for recall by any of the participants calling the number and using access codes.
Is the service foolproof?
Our service is as secure as you can make it. First of all only registered phones can call in to record a message and this may have pin access if a more secure input is required.
Reports are also only available on authorized access so security is well covered.
Finally, your service is made as secure as possible allowing for ease of access
Who would use an emergency service?
We have a large food processing factory that is spread over several acres. They have made use of the service over many years and to them, it is insurance against something going wrong. They regularly do a test to ensure it is up to date.
A local hospital in a fringe area had a problem with difficult patients becoming aggressive. They were able to summons help very quickly.
Our state health network employed the service for several years for area-wide critical response.
They were able to summons every department with a single call. Fire, Ambulance, State Emergency services, Police, and every departmental stakeholder.
Whilst we worked with them over a few years we were replaced by a program costing several million dollars so that it could be in-house managed
Relying on local sources can be dangerous.
In a large interruption caused by outside sources, your normal access to products may not be available. Generally one of the first things to go is Power. This in turn means the phone system won't work, loud paging hailers are not working and smoke or fumes can blanket viability.
Generally, mobile towers still allow access and form the best alternative in the peak crisis moment.
However, in large area crises, the Telcos are now deploying mobile phone towers so that access is available. Furthermore, this is more in a widespread activity like fire or flood.
Time is critical
In the event of a crisis, time is most critical and can mean the difference between life and death.
Therefore a system needs to have easy access and widespread coverage to move things as quickly as possible.
Management needs to be on top of the problem regardless of where they are so clear planning is carried out.
Reporting is important
There is no doubt that after-incident reviews will find problem areas that must be changed and identify those that do not follow the simple rules of the exercise.
When it is done for a real situation it may possibly give you a good defense against persecution.
The stats don't lie so you can prove that you have a defensive tactic and it was deployed in a proper manner.
Saving you from blame can be done with good reporting.
How to quickly clear your building with a single phone call and my wrap-up.
Conclusion
First of all, this is not for every business however should yours be of a size and type requiring a safeguard at a small cost this would be for you.
It works with a range of products that will provide you with long-term insurance. We all hate insurance until we need it and then it is our best friend. This service is similar.
Finally having run this service for many years I understand how it works and the absolute need to deploy it when the chips are down.
I don't believe any other service comes near to this at a price that allows its easy use and testing on a regular basis.
Verdi business messaging operate this system for businesses in Australia
