We find the templates useful. We can pre-write them, save them, and reuse them over and over. For instance, we get snow and ice storms in the Northeast, so we have school delays and cancellations. Instead of drafting a new message for distribution each time, you create a template and deploy it. You can change the date of the event and specific information. It might say that class times will be delayed or we'll be closed for a day. 

I like how Everbridge can deliver notifications in multiple modes simultaneously. We can set up several emails and phone numbers for each employee so that they can receive information in as many different ways as possible. 

We also use Everbridge Visual Command Center, integrated with Mass Notification. Using two products from the same vendor is ideal because if we used solutions from two separate companies, we would have to build our user database twice. Once we got one tool set up, transferring the information to the other tool was seamless. It's easy and accurate. There are no discrepancies between the two tools. 

We had a different tool before Visual Command Center. It was still getting support, but it was much older. It couldn't handle large amounts of data without slowing down a lot. VCC is a much more modern tool. Things load a lot more quickly, and you don't need to spend as much time waiting for the tool to respond.

We like the ability to integrate geolocation data from our HR system that tells us where teammates work or live. That information helps us calibrate the notification. If we know a storm or a tornado will hit a specific area, we can look at the map view within Everbridge. The feature is called the Universe View, and it's a section of the tool that lets us notify those folks based on the location data we have for them.

If you have a hurricane on the coast, you can chart its path on the map using the weather overlay tool. Then, you can select the impacted teammates on the screen. From there, you can create a notification that targets those specific teammates. It's critical to ensure your notifications are tailored to those affected by a particular event. You don't want to send it to everybody in the state or at one location. The notifications should be restricted to those who are impacted. 

The templates are also helpful. If you've got a scenario where you need to communicate quickly, you can create a new notification and type what you want to send out to the impacted individuals. It's better to think about that before an event takes place. That's where templates come in. You can save templates in a list and customize those as needed.

There are always variables. Some variables change in every situation. The tool asks a few quick questions, and you can quickly draft a notification based on what's already pre-built within the product. You don't need to scramble to type out a lengthy message and accidentally write something that might expose you to legal liability. We want to ensure each message has been thought out and approved by management instead of doing it in the heat of the moment.

We can ingest data from our HR system into Everbridge, like employees' names, departments, and contact information. For example, we can send notifications based on job titles and pay statuses. We might need to send messages to all non-salaried positions, supervisors, etc. 

If we collect that data on our side, we can send it to Everbridge, allowing us to tailor the notification based on essential demographic information or additional values in those data fields. For instance, I can send a message targeted to everyone in Nashville who is a manager and has a specific job title. 

We like the simulation mode, a relatively new feature for Everbridge. It allows our users to practice sending out alerts, which is especially useful for new users transitioning to the platform, and was only possible after this feature was added. If we can't practice regularly, we'll be more nervous in an emergency which increases the chance of mistakes, and we need to be ready to send out those alerts.

The solution positively affected our mass notification capabilities; we customized our notifications using templates to look a little nicer when sending emails. We can also customize user permissions using the roles feature, which is very nice. 

Everbridge is a dynamic tool that integrates well with our other systems. We can trigger messages from one platform to multiple places. The messages are sent to campus TVs and our website. We've been able to connect it through a lot of different options.

Everbridge can break up our organization into groups for sending targeted notifications. That's probably the feature I find most helpful. Tornadoes are a huge issue here in Oklahoma, and our campuses are about 30 miles apart. Using this feature, I can send tornado warnings to the campus that's in immediate danger.

Our organization has seen benefits from the reporting tools that come with Everbridge. As a company, Everbridge has different applications that you can pay for, and we don't have all of them. It's possible that some of those might provide even more reporting. But the reporting we have is very intuitive and provides good insight into the results when we send out a mass notification: Who is responding? How long is it taking? When do they receive the messages and through which medium? Are they replying through text messages? Are they replying through a website? That's a lot of information that helps us know how our audiences are responding.

One of the most valuable features is that we can select specific users to whom we want to message by area. We can draw on the map within the interface and send a message to all our subscribers within that area, ensuring relevant and targeted alerting. This prevents us from disturbing all of our subscribers with messages that aren't relevant to them. 

The ability to text all our staff and categorize by specific fields, such as department or position, are valuable features. We can gear messages to specific people or target a particular office, such as the New York office or Washington DC office only. We can target specific departments, such as corporate or litigation, which is very useful for us. Once, we had an active shooter near our Washington, DC, office, and we could send out a message to all the staff in that office. On another occasion, there was a Long Island railroad strike so we could contact all our staff who lived there. 

The most valuable features are the ease of use and the ability to set up templates for similar events, which helps streamline and makes it faster to get the message out, especially during a crisis.

Most recently, the ability to pull from white pages and yellow pages is valuable. It used to be that we were using the system and people had to sign up to be included in it, and just last year, we were given the option to pull from white pages and yellow pages, which broadens our audience considerably.

It can be utilized in different ways. There are different numbers that users can be called at. They can be sent messages. They can be sent calls to whichever number they have listed. It is a better way to get those communications out to people.

It will call and leave me a message, letting me know what's going on. I like the fact that it leaves automated messages about whatever the problem or alert situation is. It lets you know. That capability is valuable because people now tend to keep their phones with them, more so than anything else. They're more prone to listen to or see an alert coming through their telephone rather than via email.

For my particular role, the incident management piece is the most valuable. This is where we can set predefined templates with predefined contacts attached to those templates so that an operator can just pull up the template and send a message out to a contact list straight away.  

SAME and polygonal geographic targeting allow for localized mass notification which reduces communication volume.