subject: Modern Contingency Planning: Emergency Messaging with Digital Signs [print this page] Modern Contingency Planning: Emergency Messaging with Digital Signs
The specifics of emergency situations can vary dramatically, but a handful of common elements make it possible for appropriately configured digital signage networks to communicate information that potentially can save lives regardless of the precise nature of the contingency.
Whether it's severe weather, fire, or the intrusion of an authorized individual on premise, emergency situations share a few basic elements from a communications point of view that can be planned for and executed quickly when required.
To prepare, answer a few simple questions: Is the emergency confined to a local area served by the network or is it larger in scope? How can a true warning be distinguished from a drill? What action is required on the part of those threatened? By answering these questions before an emergency arrives and consulting with stakeholders in the safety of the enterprise, it is possible to prepare a series of appropriate emergency messages for most contingencies.
But beyond preparing content, there are two important demands that must be satisfied by a digital signage network to make it a valuable asset in responding to an emergency. First, the network must offer the flexibility needed to respond and adapt to an emergency. Consider a college campus with dozens of buildings and hundreds of signs. Responding to a fire in the Student Union with appropriate warning messages and evacuation maps is critically important for students, faculty and employees at the union, but not for those elsewhere on campus. In fact, alerting those in other buildings on campus to the fire at the Student Union could actually hinder firefighters and other first responders if curious students elsewhere were alerted to the situation and walked to the union to get a firsthand look.
Second, the digital signage network must be flexible enough to allow for off-site control in the event of an emergency. Authorized personnel using a secure password should be able to take control of the digital signage network from a secure, remote location via the Internet in the event that the network operations center is threatened by or involved in the emergency contingency.
Besides flexibility and control, other important elements of a digital signage network in an emergency include the ability to rapidly access appropriate pre-built content for various contingencies; the ability to customize or create on the fly emergency content from the network operations center to respond to unexpected contingencies; and easy access to the National Weather Service, cable or satellite television and other sources of emergency information that can be relayed across the digital signage network if appropriate.
To be certain, the adrenaline flows in emergency situations. But preparing prior to an event and having access to a properly enabled digital signage network for quick dissemination of appropriate warning messages should add an element of reassurance that calms the nerves and helps the network manager to respond in a level headed fashion to any contingency.
