The word “mass” is slightly misleading. The systems that work in practice are the ones that can be narrow: a message to one floor of one building, rather than to every employee in every country. Alerting everyone about a problem on floor three trains people to ignore the next alert.
Two things separate a usable system from a list of phone numbers. The first is knowing who is actually on site, which comes from booking and check-in data rather than a directory. The second is including visitors and contractors, who are the people least likely to know where the stairs are.
HybridHero offers emergency alerts and messaging as an add-on. A titled message can be sent to all users, facility managers or admins, either across the organisation or scoped to a country, city, building or floor, reaching people whose home location it is and anyone checked in there at the time. Employees receive it by push notification, email and SMS where a number is held; visitors checked into Visitor Management at that location receive it by email. SMS is charged separately. See emergency and workplace safety management.
Common questions
How is a mass notification system different from a fire alarm?+
An alarm tells people something is wrong. A notification tells them what it is and what to do, which matters for the incidents an alarm cannot express: a lockdown, a burst pipe on one floor, a closed entrance, severe weather.
Should an emergency alert go to everyone?+
Usually not. Scoping the message to the affected building or floor keeps it credible. Alerting the whole organisation about a local problem teaches people to ignore the next one.
Do visitors and contractors receive emergency alerts?+
They should, because they are least likely to know the building. In HybridHero, visitors checked into Visitor Management at the target location are emailed.