The Impact of Text Messages on Crisis Management
In today’s world, emergencies often happen suddenly, without any apparent warning. As such, many organizations have put emergency management plans in place, usually due to legal requirements. For an emergency management plan to work correctly, care must be taken to ensure that all members of a school, company, or other organization know what is going on and how they should respond. Getting an emergency notification message out quickly is often one of the most critical factors that determine the harm done by an emergency. For this reason, text-based emergency notification systems, such as the TexTalk platform, are an essential tool for any organization seeking an effective emergency management plan.
According to a study done by Madden, published in the Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Managemen , the speed at which a notification is delivered can often be the difference between life and death. For this reason, many organizations are required by law to have emergency management plans and notify personnel of emergencies. For example, all colleges subject to the Higher Education Act are required to send out emergency notifications in a timely manner. Sadly, not all colleges can do so, sometimes with tragic consequences. In 2007, a shooting took place at Virginia Tech, but an email notification was only sent out 2 hours after the initial violence took place. Nineteen minutes after this notification was sent, reports came in that the same suspect began an attack on another building on the campus. This time, an email notification was sent out 5 minutes after the report came in. Had the school not delayed in sending out information to students and staff, it is possible that the harm done could have been lessened. Virginia Tech was ultimately fined $27,500 by the U.S. Department of Education for failing to provide timely alerts after a court battle.
As can be seen, rapid communication is of vital importance during a time of crisis. For this reason, emergency notifications must be fast and contain all the information necessary. One communication method that could be used as an effective method of emergency communication is text messaging. Text messaging is easy to use for emergency notifications when employed through an effective platform like TexTalk. TexTalk allows for SMS messages to be created and sent quickly. While the amount of information that can be sent out in a single text is limited, it is generally sufficient for an initial warning, and multiple texts can be sent to convey additional information. Today, most people carry phones with them wherever they go, and text messages, even when they come from unknown numbers, tend to be opened in the first 5 seconds after they are received. Due to this, SMS emergency notification systems are better at reaching more people than systems that rely purely on other forms of communication, like email and voice messages. TexTalk’s SMS capabilities make it an appealing choice for emergency management, and it does offer voice and email capabilities should they be necessary.
For any emergency management plan to be considered effective, it must include measures that can alert people to the occurrence of an emergency. For this reason, text messaging can and should be used as a means of delivering emergency notifications. Rapid alerts are of vital importance during any crisis, making a platform like TexTalk a valuable asset. Texts are arguably the best method for prompt communication with a large number of people, the aim of any mass notification system. Improving emergency management through the use of new communication methods is of great value to any organization and may mitigate the harm done by future crises’.
References: Madden, Stephanie. “The Clock Is Ticking: Temporal Dynamics of Campus Emergency Notifications.” Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management, vol. 25, no. 4, Dec. 2017, pp. 370–375. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/1468-5973.12162.