For schools, testing critical systems and running drills are essential components of any emergency preparedness process. Schools routinely run fire drills, active shooter drills, and tabletop exercises for a reason. Testing a school’s emergency notification system is no different.
For those tasked with sending critical information to students and staff during emergencies and other critical events, it’s imperative that they know the system works ahead of time.
But testing the system goes beyond just double-checking the technology itself. Testing has three main benefits for every campus and school building using an emergency notification system:
Setting expectations
Students and staff should already know that they might get a notification in case of an emergency, especially if an emergency preparedness plan was well-communicated. But odds are they won’t know exactly what to expect. A voicemail? Text message? Video message board?
Sending out periodic test alerts spells out exactly what recipients would experience in a real emergency.
Forcing updates
One of the most important elements of using an emergency mass notification system is making sure there is updated contact information for every person in the notification network. It’s easy to fall behind if someone changes their phone number or new staff members are added to the system and don’t fill out all the information.
By testing the system periodically, schools can identify gaps in their notification network and ensure information is both accurate and actionable.
Training key staff
Schools need to prepare their staff, emergency response professionals, and any other administrators to use the emergency notification system. They should know how to send alerts without hesitation, since precious seconds count.
Sonitrol Great Lakes has been protecting schools for more than 50 years with the latest, most reliable security systems. Contact us to learn more about mass notification systems and our other products and services for the educational community.