Best Emergency Notification Software in 2024

What is an Emergency Notification Software?

Emergency notification software is used by organizations, institutions, and statutory agencies to send real-time emergency messages in case of disasters, threats, and other alert situations to employees, management, and key stakeholders through messages, notifications, emails, and other communication channels.  

The software enables organizations, businesses, government agencies, and other institutions to convey emergency alerts and urgent instructions to a large group of people in case of disastrous situations, cyber threats, fire alerts, and other emergencies.

How Do We Evaluate and Select the Best Emergency Notification Software for You?

Emergency notification software enables businesses to send bulk messages to masses in case of emergencies, such as natural disasters, cyber-attacks, and other threats. There are various options available when seeking an emergency notification system, and choosing the right software can be complex. To make your decision-making process easier, we have compared some of the best emergency notification software based on their features, benefits, pricing, usability, and so on.

While comparing the different emergency notification systems, we have evaluated features like multi-channel communications, post-incident analysis, and compliance. However, access to certain features varies between the free demo model and paid subscription. For further clarity, we have also provided a comparison of different emergency notification tools based on their free trial and subscription plans.  

How Does Emergency Notification Software Work?

Emergency notification tools use a digital database of audience segments with names, locations, contact numbers, email addresses, and other information related to different media channels.  

In situations of urgency, disruptions, or emergencies, the software pushes notifications and messages to a large group of people and receives messages to update the status of recipients.  

As per the requirements of concerned authorities or institutions, emergency notification software can be deployed on-premises with system integrations or hosted on the cloud with access to a digital dataset, location tracking capabilities, and automation features. 

By deploying a cloud-based emergency notification system, the process of sending alert notifications can be centrally managed on any device and real-time reports can be maintained with the status of messages and recipients.

Best Emergency Notification Software Comparison

Choice of the best emergency notification software requires a comparison of different factors, such as device compatibility, configuration options, geolocation tagging capabilities, and real-time reporting of message status. In this segment, we will compare some of the best emergency notification software based on their device compatibility, supported platforms, and distinctive features:

Best Emergency Notification Software Comparison
Softwares	Emergency Notification Software Features	Emergency Notification Software Pricing
Alert Media	Employee Safety, Employee Database, Event calendar, Contact Management, Chat / Messaging	On Request
Rave Alert	Contact Management, Templates, Geo-Targeting, Scenario Planning, Device Targeting, Two-Way Communication	On Request
Dial my Call	Call Bridging, Full-Text Search, 2-Way Calling, Integration, Mobile App	$10 Monthly
Text-em-all	Activity Dashboard, Communication Management, Customizable Templates, Reporting/Analytics, Third Party Integrations, Multi-Channel Communication	$18 one-time payment

What are the Benefits of Emergency Notification Software?

It is undebatable that emergency notification software is crucial in disastrous situations and emergencies. ENS offers quick actionability and disaster control to safeguard the safety of individuals by alerting them about potential or ongoing emergencies. Discussed below are the key benefits of emergency notification software: 

1. Rapid Communication: To prevent safety threats and damage, emergency notification software offers quick communication measures to convey crucial information at the time of disaster. With the help of emergency notification systems, target groups, and stakeholders can be promptly informed about natural disasters, cyber breaches, emergency evacuations, and other incidents.  
2. Precision in Communication: Emergency notification software provides precision and accuracy in message delivery. With updated audience datasets, location tracking, and customizable templates, emergency notification software ensures concise messaging without any clutter.  
3. Multi-Channel Communication: Notifications and messages across different channels like SMS, email, push notifications, and voice calls streamline message delivery and ensure that everyone receives the message in their preferred mode.  
4. Post-Incident Analysis and Reporting: Emergency notifications and alerts act as a two-way communication process, where the post-incident impact is also monitored. Emergency notification software allows reporting and analysis of alert messages and the status of recipients in a single dashboard.  
5. Ensures compliance: Implementation of emergency notification software is subject to compliance and legal standards. Emergency notification software offers predefined templates and standardized messaging systems to ensure compliance, transparency, and accountability.  

Must-Have Features of Emergency Notification Software 

An effective emergency notification software must have certain features, such as quick message delivery, language options, device compatibilities, and so on. Listed below are 10 crucial features of an emergency notification software: 

1. Quick Message Delivery: Quick and prompt message delivery is the prime feature to look out for in emergency notification software. The speed of the notification system can be assessed by the steps involved in messaging, average delivery time, and efforts required to send emergency messages.  
2. Channels of Delivery: The right emergency notification software or mass messaging system will be operational on multiple devices, offer compatibility with different communication channels, and integrate seamlessly with database and location-based information. 
3. Message Customization Options: Different communication channels require different tones and formats when sending emergency alerts. A key feature of any good emergency notification system is the availability of pre-built templates and customization options to tailor messages as per the situational requirements. 
4. Audience Management: Audience management refers to the ability of an emergency notification software to manage a large database, segment audience on different parameters, and support constant updating of audience information. 
5. Cloud Deployment and Automation: The choice of emergency notification software is also reliant on the deployment options offered by the system. A cloud-based alert messaging system can be operational over multiple devices and offer automation in the audience management, message delivery, and reporting process.  
6. Geotargeting: Geotargeting is the ability to map the concerned area and segment the audience based on available location targeting options. With the help of the geotargeting feature in emergency notification software, stakeholders from a fixed location can be targeted to send emergency alert messages at times of crisis.  
7. Two-Way Communication: Another crucial feature of an emergency notification system is the reception of responses to the alert messages. The two-way communication feature enables reporting and coordination in emergencies. 
8. Integration Options: This feature of emergency notification software provides flexibility and promptness in taking action. A good emergency notification system must offer integration with various operating systems, database formats, and devices for seamless message delivery. 
9. Reporting and Analytics: Emergency notifications require actionable insights and information post-delivery of alert messages. A must-have feature for any emergency notification software is to provide a report with crucial information related to delivery rate, response rate, acknowledgment, and so on.

How to choose the right Emergency Notification Software? 

The choice of the right emergency notification software depends on a list of factors such as message delivery time, contact data limit, device compatibility, scheduling options, incident management, and real-time reporting. Let us discuss in detail the prime factors to determine the choice of emergency notification software: 

• Message Delivery Time: To choose the best emergency notification software, compare the average delivery time for pushing mass messages across different channels. You can also test the speed of message delivery by including different media options with your emergency messages. 
• Contact Database Management: Assess the contact limit and audience management options of different emergency notification software to evaluate the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the software of choice for sending emergency alert messages. It is also important to understand the security and privacy protocols applicable to ensure data integrity.  
• Device Compatibility: Make a checklist of the devices and operating systems on which the emergency notification software can easily operate. This not only adds to the flexibility and accessibility to send alert notifications but also allows collaboration for taking quick actions.   
• Message Scheduling: With efficient emergency notification software, you will be able to schedule a sequence of notifications and alert messages across different channels of communication. This feature is especially helpful in conducting events or drills and automating the alert system for potential incidents.  
• Incident Management: Incident management is essentially an automated feature in emergency notification software that allows coordination and tracking of response in a centralized location. By tracking, reporting, managing, and monitoring incidents, it is easy to assign responsibilities and communicate with different teams to control damage.  
• Real-Time Reporting: As much as the speediness of message delivery is important, the need for real-time monitoring cannot be overlooked. To choose the best emergency notification software, evaluate real-time reporting, tracking, and monitoring options available in the software.

Who uses Emergency Notification Software? 

An emergency notification system is needed in any place with a large gathering of people for proactive action taking in emergencies such as natural disasters, weather alerts, cyber threats, and other incidents. Listed below are a few of the industries that can use emergency notification software: 

• Businesses: Businesses and organizations can optimize emergency notification software for various reasons, including disaster alerts, cyber threat warnings, downtime and IT outage alerts, fire threats, and so on.  
• Healthcare Facilities: The implementation of an emergency notification system is highly crucial for healthcare facilities and hospitals for alerts related to patient status, in addition to incident management and emergency control notifications. 
• Schools: In schools and other educational institutions, emergency notification software is important to ensure the safety of students in emergencies and incidents, as well as conducting drills for emergency planning. 

Modules of Emergency Notification Software 

With the dynamic advancements in technology, various emergency notification software have been introduced for quick emergency notifications and response. Enumerated below are the different modules of emergency notification software and how they work, 

• Mass Notification/Messaging: A mass notification module in an emergency notification system allows the user to send pre-defined templates or customized alert messages to a large group of people to alert them about emergencies and incidents. 
• Wireless Emergency Alerts: Such alert notifications are generally used by state and local authorities to inform locals about disasters and adverse incidents in a defined region over their wireless devices, such as mobiles, tablets, laptops, etc.   
• SMS Text Systems: SMS text systems use contact details of different stakeholders within an organization or institution to share emergency messages as well as non-emergency notifications.  
• Color Code Alerts: Color code alert systems are often used in healthcare facilities to communicate the type of emergency through defined color codes without alarming other visitors or patients. 

Implementation of Emergency Notification Software

The implementation and initial set-up process of an emergency notification system varies in different software, based on the deployment method, configuration requirements, data management systems, and so on. The basic steps for implementing an emergency notification system are mentioned below:  

• Launching and configuring software or applications with the system.  
• Setting up login credentials and establishing connections with different delivery channels.  
• Importing delivery channels, contact information, organization IDs, and other required information to set up the emergency notification system.  
• Defining templates and pre-defined information for quick accessibility and action-taking.  
• Creating contact groups and segments based on different geographical and contact details to synchronize contacts with the emergency notification software.  
• Sending sample messages and notifications to test the efficiency and accuracy of the emergency notification system. 

How Much Does Emergency Notification Software Cost?

Emergency notification software is generally priced at a monthly rate, however, some of the solution providers may charge on a per-user basis. The price of emergency notification software largely depends on the deployment method, number of users, and so on. While there are various emergency notification software options that offer free starter packs, the average cost ranges between INR 550 to 25,000 per month.