| What is Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging used for? |
It is used to rapidly broadcast a message to people, up thousands if necessary, with the push of a button. Within minutes cell phones are ringing, in boxes are filling, PDA’s chiming and pagers beeping.
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| Can text and voice broadcasts be generated from any phone or computer with Internet access? |
Yes, they can deliver to any phone, cell phone, pager or email address.
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| What type of message broadcasts are supported by EMERGENCY/EVENT BROADCAST MESSAGING? |
IT allows broadcasters to send electronic messages including voice recordings, e-mail, text messages and pages. The system works with cell phones, land lines, satellite phones, answering machines, voice mail, blackberries, PDA’s, and pagers. Basically any electronic device that can accept a phone call, e-mail, SMS text message or page can be included in the Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging database.
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| Can the system collect responses from persons receiving a broadcast message? |
Yes. The system can collect acknowledgments, yes or no answers and even support multiple choice polling. Responses can be submitted by touch tone telephone or through links in an e-mail. Broadcasters can view the responses and manage the broadcast from any web browser.
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| Does the system support web access? |
Yes. The system is web based and supports web access for contacts to register and update their contact data. It also allows broadcasters to initiate and manage broadcasts from the web. Administrators also have web access to create, edit and manage the system.
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| Is this product just for emergencies or can I use it for other applications? |
Don’t let the name fool you. The system is essential for communicating during an emergency but is also useful to communicate any type of situation where you need to reach groups of people quickly and efficiently by electronic means. Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging is installed world wide and used for everyday applications including calls for substitute teachers, meeting reminders, notifications of all types, marketing surveys, customer service dispatch and message escalation just to name a few.
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| Can you broadcast to large groups using more than one method of delivery? |
Yes, Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging (also called Emergency Event Notification-EEN) solution automates the rapid delivery of announcements to large groups using simultaneous voice, text and email broadcasts.
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| Could we use voice if we don’t have access to internet to broadcast? |
The Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging administrator can select contact lists and initiate a pre-recorded or custom message broadcast via phone call or Internet browser, from any location, at any time. Once initiated, the message is delivered to all phones, hand-helds, pagers and email inboxes on the selected contact lists.
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| Can we have a caller confirmation? |
Broadcasts may include a required “yes” or “no” response from recipients for polling purposes or acknowledgement of availability.
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| We want to use text messaging to reach large numbers of people. What are the limitations of text messaging? |
Text messages will often get through when voice communications are blocked. Text messaging is typically very reliable and can be useful in an emergency. Like all electronic communications it has limitations tied the networks that deliver the messages and text messages can be delayed or blocked during under some circumstances. When text messaging is used in conjunction with voice calling and e-mail it has proven to be very effective and should be part of your emergency notification plans.
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| Can you use the Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging server for more than one application? |
No, Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging resides on a dedicated server, supplied either by the customer or Nuance. You need a medium to high end equipped dedicated server. Generally, choose the fastest processor speed available or one level down. You do not need processors enhanced for graphics. The hard drive holds programs and small data files. For configurations over 24 ports, contact Nuance. Virtual, blade or VMWare servers are not acceptable.
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| How many ports do I need? |
The number of voice ports is determined by the number of subscribers to be supported and speed of delivery required.
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| What is the charge for training, database set up and implementation? |
Full training, documentation, database set up and implementation are standard with every system.
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| Can the system be expanded after it is implemented? |
Yes. Systems are fully scalable. A single server can be expanded to 96 voice ports and multiple servers can be networked together to scale the broadcast capacity to just about any size.
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| What other software might be necessary? |
Run Windows Update on the server and ensure that all of the latest patches, service packs, and hot fixes are installed. MS Access 2000 may be required for some applications. Contact your Nuance Project Manager for details.
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| What about Windows Active Directory accounts and disk partitions? |
The Windows operating system should be installed on at least an 8GB partition. A separate larger partition is recommended to hold the applications.
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| What about other LAN Types and Speeds? |
We recommend at least 100Mbps.
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| Do we need anything beyond our normal 4-hour response for hardware maintenance? |
The Windows Server is purchased and maintained by you. The minimum response time you purchase depends on how critical your application is.
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| What are the backup requirements for the MCS? How often must it be backed up? How much data is there to be backed up? |
Depending on the IVR application, there may be some small Access databases that may need to be backed up only when a configuration change is made to the application. Other applications may store transactions or other data on the MCS hard drive. In which case, these files should be included in your nightly back up process. For larger applications, such as Emergency/Event Broadcast Messaging, that utilize a SQL Server database, we recommend an off-the-shelf backup software package, such as Veritas.
If you have any additional questions, please call the EPS Sales team at 1 866-9-NUANCE (682623) and say "Sales Department", or by email at eps.contact@nuance.com.
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