Yesterday, we faced a significant issue with Microsoft services, highlighting the need for a reliable way to mass communicate with staff in case of outages, especially if our usual tools like Teams or email are unavailable. Currently, we don't have a dedicated company portal for such notifications. I'm curious if anyone has experience in setting up an effective communication method for these situations and what solutions they've implemented?
5 Answers
One option is to set up your intranet site in SharePoint, which can be a central place for notifications. You can also configure email alerts through your Exchange server so that people can be updated when systems are back online.
True! Maybe combining SharePoint with SMS alerts would cover the bases.
We rely on an SMS service called Everbridge. It provides instant notifications even if other communications fail, but do remember, the success of these systems relies on everyone opting in ahead of time.
That sounds solid! We've had issues where people didn't register, so it's crucial to communicate the importance of signing up.
For immediate notifications, a simple mass text to managers could work. You could set up a notification system through whatever RMM software you’re using. Keeping it straightforward is key here.
Yes, but while it's easy for managers, if they don’t pass it on, then it’s useless.
You might want to consider using something like ManageEngine, which has an announcement feature that worked well for us during outages in the past.
I miss ManageEngine! ServiceNow is okay, but it's not as intuitive.
That's a good suggestion! I’ll look into that tool.
Utilizing a phone tree can be effective. Have directors call their teams to spread the word. Make sure this is included in your business continuity plan because it's crucial for emergencies.
But what if phone lines go down too? In our case, all phones are VoIP.
I get the humor, but seriously, if SharePoint goes down, you're kind of stuck. We need a better disaster recovery strategy.