Crisis Message Broadcasting System for Reliable Contact Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crisis communication systems fail to provide adequate tools for easy administration and ensuring message delivery before and after an emergency, lacking effective preparation and follow-through mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A crisis message broadcasting system and method that allows administrators to view and filter communication success, create contact groups based on criteria, store messages for various channels, and maintain current contact information by sending reminders and resending messages to delinquent contacts, with features for real-time monitoring and error filtering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If administrators manually manage contact information and message distribution, then system complexity is reduced, but productivity and reliability of crisis communication deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically sends reminder messages to contacts who have not updated their information, and automatically filters and re-sends messages to unsuccessful recipients. This automation reduces manual administrative work while maintaining high reliability of communication delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time feedback on message delivery status through filtered lists showing successful, partial, and failed communications. Administrators can view error types and re-attempt contact with specific groups, creating a closed-loop feedback system that improves delivery reliability without requiring complex manual tracking.
2Reliability
If the system attempts to contact all contacts through multiple channels, then message delivery reliability improves, but loss of time increases due to repeated contact attempts
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments contacts into filtered lists based on communication success and error types. Administrators can target re-attempt efforts to specific segments (e.g., only those who failed initially) rather than contacting everyone again, reducing time loss while maintaining delivery reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary contact attempts and categorizes results before final message distribution. By identifying and flagging unsuccessful contacts in advance, the system prepares targeted re-attempt lists, avoiding redundant contact attempts with successful recipients and reducing overall time loss.
3Ease of operation
If the system provides comprehensive real-time monitoring and filtering capabilities, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides multiple filtering views (by success status, by error type) and multiple operational capabilities (viewing, re-attempting, modifying contact lists) through a unified interface. This multi-functional approach improves ease of operation without requiring separate complex systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines contact management, message distribution, real-time monitoring, and filtering capabilities into a single integrated platform. By merging these functions, the system improves ease of operation while managing complexity through integration rather than separate systems.
4Reliability
If contact information is not regularly updated, then loss of time for verification is reduced, but reliability of communication deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic automated reminder messages to contacts at scheduled intervals, prompting them to update their information. This periodic action maintains contact information accuracy and communication reliability without requiring continuous manual verification, thus avoiding time loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for managing crisis communication are disclosed. A contact database holds information used to deliver broadcast messages to selected contacts. Messages are prepared in advance for delivery via different channels, including voice, fax, pager, and e-mail. Contact groups are defined by selecting specific contacts, or as “criteria groups” defined by search criteria. Notification tasks are created by determining the contact groups to receive the broadcast, then adding others if desired. Messages are selected for broadcast transmission in various channels. Administrators view a table of status codes for each attempted transmission. They filter the table based on each contact's status. Contacts or filtered sets can be added to and removed from a “renotification” list using the interactively filtered table. When contacts fail to confirm or update their contact information for longer than a certain period, the system automatically sends that contact a message reminding them to do so.