Mvix's Now CAP Compliant Digital Signage Software Unifies Emergency Messaging

Sterling. VA, April 28, 2016 (Newswire.com) - According to the OASIS standard, “The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a simple but general format for exchanging all-hazard emergency alerts and public warnings over all kinds of networks.” CAP allows a consistent warning message to be disseminated simultaneously over many different warning systems, thus increasing warning effectiveness while simplifying the warning task.

In an organization with multiple emergency notification systems (ENS) e.g. a school campus, CAP simplifies the notification process. Most of these mass notification systems are proprietary and might not work together, which can lead to a delay in the delivery of emergency messages. Take Florida State University (FSU) for example. It can take the university between 13 and 20 minutes to activate all of its 27 systems. A lot can happen in 20 minutes.

Institutions cannot afford to have an emergency notification system that takes minutes to verify an emergency, create a message, seek approval and send the alert. Our CAP compliant emergency messaging solution eliminates these tasks and saves time, which streamlines emergency communications.

A. Jay, Senior Director of Business Relations

CAP solves this time problem by using a common language or format that all systems (that are CAP compliant) can understand. Once the CAP alert is received, it is automatically disseminated to multiple emergency alert systems e.g digital signage, outdoor warning sirens, indoor warning sirens, SMS text messaging, E-mails, strobe lights, social media etc.

In addition to receiving CAP alerts, Mvix’s emergency messaging solution can also send user-generated custom alerts for specific events. Alerts can be about the school closing early, a power outage, or hazardous situations in specific areas of the campus e.g. a gas leak.

These custom alerts can be prepared in advance and compiled into a library of messages and stored in the CMS. Certain ‘triggers’ can then be programmed to activate the alerts when they’re needed.

With the ability to send both CAP alerts and custom alerts, Mvix’s emergency messaging solution becomes comprehensive and unifies emergency alerting. This is critical, especially in school campuses where it’s been reported that threats increased 158% from 2013 to 2014 alone. The same study reported that there were threats in 46 out of 50 states. This rise in threats calls for a comprehensive emergency notification system that’s fast and addresses the audio and visual components of mass notification.

Mvix’s emergency messaging solution also has great ROI. In addition to being used as an emergency response tool, their digital signage solution can also be used for wayfinding and building directories, for day to day announcements and also as a digital menu board. This is highly convenient for school cafeterias where nutritionists can promote healthy meals, add nutrient information to the menu and even use the menu boards to direct traffic during lunch so students have more time to eat.

“Institutions cannot afford to have an emergency notification system that takes minutes to verify an emergency, create a message, seek approval and send the alert,” said A.Jay, the Mvix Senior Director of Business Relations. “Our CAP compliant emergency messaging solution eliminates these tasks and saves time, which streamlines emergency communications.”

Source: Mvix