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Need for mass notification systems continues to surge

With 500 million people registered for Twitter, 880 million on Facebook and more than 1 billion email accounts, there’s no question that the influence of social media and electronic communication will continue to expand, something that safety personnel increasingly will have to factor into the mass notification portion of their security plans.

That was evident after the tragic Boston Marathon bombing in May, when millions flocked to social media for information.

Campus Safety Magazine recently interviewed a pair of Boston-area security experts, who gave their recommendations on how other hospitals can appropriately respond during a disaster. No. 19 on their list: Adopt a mass notification system.

“It would have diminished the rumors and increased the clarity of what was really happening in a much faster way,” said Bonnie Michelman, the Massachusetts General Hospital Director of Police, Security and Outside Services. “We were sending out mass emails to everyone, but not everyone was reading their emails. People would have understood what was closed, what was locked, where people should park, where people should come in, why SWAT was outside.”

That’s precisely the kind of information that can be dispersed in a clear and efficient manner with Blue Alert® MNS from Code Blue Corporation. Blue Alert MNS is a sophisticated software solution that can quickly inform and direct people in emergency situations via a variety of platforms, including emergency phones, public address speakers, email, text, Facebook, Twitter, desktop alerts, digital signs, fire panels and more.

Designed specifically for healthcare, school, corporate and municipal campuses, it is an ideal incident response solution that is both comprehensive and cost-effective.

Blue Alert MNS is part of the Blue Alert First Responder, Code Blue’s suite of unique software applications that provide an all-encompassing and user-friendly solution for security personnel. Blue Alert First Responder also includes Blue Alert Mobile powered by Guardly, a cross-platform mobile app that transforms smartphones into “mobile help points,” and Blue Alert EMS (Event Management System), which handles all incoming emergency and non-emergency events with an easy to use interface.