The Emergency Notification industry has grown from a few providers to a long and ever-growing list of players.
As yet, the issues, features, infrastructure, underlying costs, problems, and other aspects of ENS have been addressed only sporadically and haphazardly.
This blog will address Emergency Notification comprehensively and continuously with researched and empirical facts so that when you purchase a system, you can be armed with knowledge. I have a bit to say about this topic. I have been building such systems for over 10 years and was a major contributor to the NENA standard on EN systems.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Difference Between Telemarketing Dialer & True ENS
Are you on the National Do-Not-Call Registry?
Just hold on to that question for a moment and you will see how relevant it is to the title of this post.
A couple of definitions to start:
An "auto-dialer" is a device that can be attached to one or more telephone line and programmed to call a range or a list of numbers. If something (e.g. an answering machine) or someone answers the call, the auto-dialer plays a pre-recorded message.
A "predictive dialer" is a similar but much more sophisticated kind of device. It is used in call centers to squeeze more efficiency out of the telemarketers. It can call many people simultaneously. If an answering machine answers, it leaves a message. If a person answers, the PD connects the call to a free telemarketing agent. It is called a predictive dialer because it uses a mathematical formula to predict how calls it needs to make so that the agents are as busy as possible, given that only 10% to 30% of the calls will actually be answered by a person.
There used to be hundreds of thousands of telecommunication channels operated by hundreds of telemarketing companies using "auto dialers" and "predictive dialers" to make massive numbers of phone calls to massive numbers of people. With the advent of the DNC Registry and strict limitations on who can make unsolicited calls, many of these systems' owners have lost their revenue base and need to find other industries where their systems can be used. (BTW, you may be shocked to learn that politicians exempted themselves from any of these restrictions.)
Come on to the scene a lifesaving new industry: Emergency Mass Notification - same thing, just make lots of outbound calls? Right?
Wrong!
The key problem here is the word "emergency". Telemarketing dialers are not designed to be failure resistant. They are not designed for extreme ease of use. And if they miss some people, who cares, as long as they can dial a quota of total calls. And they are not designed to be integrated with other services, like SMS text messaging and alert message boards.
Conversely, what differentiates an ENS from a telemarketing dialing system is all the infrastructure necessary to make the ENS work even if some of its components fail or when its capacity is compromised. For example, most telemarketing systems are operated from a single location. If that facility fails for whatever reason, be it weather, equipment breakage, or software bug, the whole system is compromised.
A true ENS should operate from at least two locations simultaneously, ideally more than 50 miles apart. That way, if one site fails, the other can continue making emergency calls.
Of course, to operate an ENS that has a footprint in two locations costs twice as much as operating a telemarketing system found in one location. That is why a true ENS typically costs more than a service based on an auto-dialer. Basically, It's Worth It!!!
So, if you are evaluating an ENS, make sure to ask the probative questions necessary to ferret out the true pedigree of the system you purchase. If you're getting a really great deal, don't be surprised if, the next time you have an emergency, some mysterious problem prevents your ENS from making the calls it should be making. And know that one of the side-effects of restricting telemarketing calls is the unbridled growth of companies offering ENS.
Samuel Asher
President, Asher Group
http://ashergroup.com
http://hyper-reach.com
http://campus-reach.com
Just hold on to that question for a moment and you will see how relevant it is to the title of this post.
A couple of definitions to start:
An "auto-dialer" is a device that can be attached to one or more telephone line and programmed to call a range or a list of numbers. If something (e.g. an answering machine) or someone answers the call, the auto-dialer plays a pre-recorded message.
A "predictive dialer" is a similar but much more sophisticated kind of device. It is used in call centers to squeeze more efficiency out of the telemarketers. It can call many people simultaneously. If an answering machine answers, it leaves a message. If a person answers, the PD connects the call to a free telemarketing agent. It is called a predictive dialer because it uses a mathematical formula to predict how calls it needs to make so that the agents are as busy as possible, given that only 10% to 30% of the calls will actually be answered by a person.
There used to be hundreds of thousands of telecommunication channels operated by hundreds of telemarketing companies using "auto dialers" and "predictive dialers" to make massive numbers of phone calls to massive numbers of people. With the advent of the DNC Registry and strict limitations on who can make unsolicited calls, many of these systems' owners have lost their revenue base and need to find other industries where their systems can be used. (BTW, you may be shocked to learn that politicians exempted themselves from any of these restrictions.)
Come on to the scene a lifesaving new industry: Emergency Mass Notification - same thing, just make lots of outbound calls? Right?
Wrong!
The key problem here is the word "emergency". Telemarketing dialers are not designed to be failure resistant. They are not designed for extreme ease of use. And if they miss some people, who cares, as long as they can dial a quota of total calls. And they are not designed to be integrated with other services, like SMS text messaging and alert message boards.
Conversely, what differentiates an ENS from a telemarketing dialing system is all the infrastructure necessary to make the ENS work even if some of its components fail or when its capacity is compromised. For example, most telemarketing systems are operated from a single location. If that facility fails for whatever reason, be it weather, equipment breakage, or software bug, the whole system is compromised.
A true ENS should operate from at least two locations simultaneously, ideally more than 50 miles apart. That way, if one site fails, the other can continue making emergency calls.
Of course, to operate an ENS that has a footprint in two locations costs twice as much as operating a telemarketing system found in one location. That is why a true ENS typically costs more than a service based on an auto-dialer. Basically, It's Worth It!!!
So, if you are evaluating an ENS, make sure to ask the probative questions necessary to ferret out the true pedigree of the system you purchase. If you're getting a really great deal, don't be surprised if, the next time you have an emergency, some mysterious problem prevents your ENS from making the calls it should be making. And know that one of the side-effects of restricting telemarketing calls is the unbridled growth of companies offering ENS.
Samuel Asher
President, Asher Group
http://ashergroup.com
http://hyper-reach.com
http://campus-reach.com
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