Bringing together a solution that incorporates real-time collaboration, conferencing and mobility, Avaya has a new approach designed to help with crisis management. The latest version of the Avaya Notification Solution (ANS) is at the heart of the solution that can transmit critical information and instructions in multiple formats. The ANS approach is built to support small, targeted teams or large groups.
Using ANS, organizations can send messages to virtually any endpoint, anywhere, including to any phone or integrated broadcast system or via text through SMS, email, instant messaging or digital signage. Automated messages can be triggered through a Web portal, phone call or email, or third-party system.
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Other features include the ability to update social media sites, commandeer Avaya IP Phones to behave as broadcast speakers, poll or prompt recipients for response, and target special messages to sub-segments of larger groups.
Once notified, required participants can access instant collaboration through the “on board,” integrated Meet-me conferencing and collaboration capabilities, or by integrating with Avaya Aura Conferencing 7.0, Avaya Meeting Exchange and/or Radvision Scopia. Avaya has used open Web services APIs to enable easier integration with third-party applications that can trigger notifications or provide more information within the notification.
Commenting on how Avaya has used its own product during a crisis, Bill Parkin, director, Security and Business Continuity, Avaya, said in a statement, “During the Colorado wildfires earlier this year, we were very concerned about how our area employees were personally being affected and also needed to keep them informed about access to our local facilities. We used Avaya Notification Solution to reach more than 1,200 employees, poll them to see if they needed aid and assistance, and provide them with information and instructions. This entire process took about 90 minutes — a significant reduction in time from just a year earlier when a similar event took nearly three days.”
Our observations: While notification systems have been in place for years, we believe that marrying a notification system with a platform that includes collaboration capabilities provides added benefit — especially to help large teams solve a crisis.
