Do you need “response” capability in your employee notification system? Most situations are dealt with using one-way broadcasts. There is seldom a need for people to affirmatively reply.

Many people wonder “how do I know if people received the message if they don’t reply?” This is a legitimate question that has complex answers:

• If you require people to reply simply to say that they have received the message, many –if not most – will not, especially if there is no clear need to. Then what? Send it again? And then again? There is (or should be) a clear difference between the type of situation wherein a person is asked to reply – in any form – and one that doesn’t. Most do not. You should choose a system that has some built-in disposition reporting so that you at least know how good your information is (the delivery rate) and thus the likelihood that people received it.
• While some systems like AMG Alerts do have a built-in response capability that can be selectively deployed, it may not be necessary to use your mass notification system partner’s capabilities. It is easy enough, in a real emergency, to simply add as part of the message “employees are asked to contact their supervisors” or some such solution.

When a response is not solicited in every message, messages that ASK for it are bound to stand out. In fact, some of these nuances in the use of emergency notification systems will be covered in other articles, as well be full-on business continuity applications wherein we do recommend response capability be put in place through your system, whether it be AMG Alerts or something else.