Emergency alerts and important announcements

Purpose

1.1. Automate the distribution of emergency alerts and critical announcements to dental students, faculty, and staff for rapid awareness and response during crises or urgent situations.
1.2. Reduce human error in disseminating time-sensitive communications about campus safety, lockdowns, weather closures, or health-related incidents.
1.3. Ensure omnichannel coverage so recipients automatedly receive alerts regardless of their preferred digital medium.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. Detected emergency event (fire alarm panel integration, security alert API, hazardous weather detection).
2.2. Manual trigger by designated admin for immediate event escalation.
2.3. Scheduled or triggered from third-party systems (campus safety dashboards, public safety notification feeds).

Platform Variants

3.1. Twilio SMS
• Feature/Setting: Automate sending SMS via Programmable Messaging API; configure emergency keyword templates for instant automated broadcast.

3.2. SendGrid
• Feature/Setting: Automates mass email alerts via the Marketing Campaigns API; configure alert contact lists and emergency message templates.

3.3. Slack
• Feature/Setting: Automates direct messages and channel pings using Slack Bots/API; set triggers to post automatedly in #alerts channels.

3.4. Microsoft Teams
• Feature/Setting: Automates announcements with the Microsoft Graph API; targeted messaging to all or specific groups.

3.5. Zoom Chat
• Feature/Setting: Automates instant messages with Zoom Chatbot integration; configure auto-alert workflow to reach online staff/students.

3.6. Discord
• Feature/Setting: Automates mass alerts to channels/members using Discord Webhook; configure alert reception roles for visibility.

3.7. WhatsApp Business API
• Feature/Setting: Automate sending approved template messages to student/staff lists for critical alerts.

3.8. Facebook Messenger
• Feature/Setting: Automates message sending via Messenger Platform Send API; pre-build alert sequences for emergencies.

3.9. Telegram
• Feature/Setting: Automates sending group and direct messages with the Telegram Bot API upon trigger conditions.

3.10. Google Workspace (Gmail)
• Feature/Setting: Automates sending mass emails via Gmail API; automated message generation with specified urgency tags.

3.11. PagerDuty
• Feature/Setting: Automates incident notifications to response teams using the Incident API; set escalation policies for campus emergencies.

3.12. ServiceNow
• Feature/Setting: Automate workflows for IT and facilities emergency communication with Notification API triggers.

3.13. OneCallNow
• Feature/Setting: Automates multi-modal (voice/SMS/email) notification dispatch using their Mass Notification API.

3.14. Alertus
• Feature/Setting: Automate desktop/mobile alerts using the Alertus Mass Notification API for instant campus-wide push.

3.15. Everbridge
• Feature/Setting: Automates cross-channel notifications with Everbridge Critical Event Management API; establish student/faculty contact groups.

3.16. SAP SuccessFactors
• Feature/Setting: Automate workforce communications via Employee Central notifications in urgent scenarios.

3.17. Salesforce
• Feature/Setting: Automate emergency outreach using Marketing Cloud Journey Builder triggers/API.

3.18. Mailchimp
• Feature/Setting: Automate email distribution using the Campaigns API; segment lists for tailored emergency delivery.

3.19. Rave Mobile Safety
• Feature/Setting: Automates SMS, email, and voice call alerts with Rave’s Mass Notification API.

3.20. Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service)
• Feature/Setting: Automates multi-channel alert distribution (SMS, email, push) using SNS Topic Triggers and publishing API.

3.21. Webex Teams
• Feature/Setting: Automate message card announcements using the Webex Messaging API for quick event response.

3.22. Flock
• Feature/Setting: Automate broadcasts to Flock channels with the Flock Developer API for real-time emergency alerts.

3.23. Pushbullet
• Feature/Setting: Automating instant push notifications to devices using Pushbullet API for campus emergencies.

3.24. Signal
• Feature/Setting: Automate direct secure message delivery with the Signal CLI for privacy-critical situations.

Benefits

4.1. Automated emergency alerting reduces notification delays and ensures higher protection for dental school stakeholders.
4.2. Omnichannel automation guarantees all recipients are reached regardless of device or platform preference.
4.3. Configurable automations lead to faster, more consistent response and compliance with safety protocols.
4.4. Automatedly logs all outbound notifications for post-incident review, improving accountability.
4.5. Automation minimizes dependency on manual action in high-stress crises, reducing operational risk.