The Receptionist’s newest visitor management feature will help ensure everyone in your workplace is informed of important events or safety situations. Say hello to Broadcast Notifications!
Broadcast Notifications allow you to send out mass alerts via SMS to everyone who is currently checked in to your location: including your employees and visitors. While we know you take every precaution to keep your workplace safe, it’s impossible to guarantee that emergency events won’t occur. In those cases, Broadcast Notifications allow you to keep everyone in the office informed and aware of key information and next steps, like safety protocols or evacuation procedures.
However, Broadcast Notifications can also share other important or timely messages like “Donuts in the breakroom” or “The main floor restrooms are out of order; please use the facilities on the second floor.”
To get started as a Receptionist customer, log into the admin portal in a web browser and click the Actions menu on the top right of your visit log, where you’ll now see the option to create a new Broadcast. If you are an Account owner, you’ll have the ability to send a notification to send an alert to any particular location. Location owners can only trigger a Broadcast Notification at their particular location.
You’ll find the option to create a New Broadcast under the Actions menu at the top right of your Visit Log
Selecting the New Broadcast option will allow you to fill in any text you want in your notification. If you have visitors that might not be expecting a message from you, you might want to start with short notice that they’re receiving the alert on behalf of your business. You’ll also see the number of potential recipients for your Broadcast Notification, including the number of checked-in visitors with an attached telephone number and those without, so you’re aware of any who might not receive the message.
If your office uses an employee button to check team members in and out, you’ll also be able to select an option to message all of your employees regardless of their check-in status (as long as they are set up with an SMS-compatible number in your account). This will come in handy if you want to pass on important information to employees not currently on-site — for example, a heads-up to stay away from the office or key steps to protect at-risk data.
While you can use Broadcast Notifications to message employee contacts that are checked out, you’ll only be able to alert visitors that are checked in at the time of the notification. Visitors will not have the option to opt out of these SMS messages while they are checked in at your site, so be mindful of using this feature and restrict a Broadcast Notification message to truly important events. You can’t send them alerts once they’ve been checked out or your visit log has reset.
Preview of what you’ll see when creating a New Broadcast Notification, including a custom text box and option to select who in your workplace receives it
Think of Broadcast Notifications as a safety and awareness tool, not a marketing channel! Of course, you know your workplace and visitors best, so if you feel a quick notification that there’s ice cream for everyone in the lobby wouldn’t go amiss, we’re not here to judge.
Interested in an in-depth breakdown of how to set up broadcast notifications at your workplace, send alerts to individuals in a workplace, and the situations in which you might use them? We hosted a special live demo for the feature release, “Be your workplace’s safety hero,” to dive into the feature! Head over to register for a recording of that demo and see the full rundown on best practices for using Broadcast Notifications, along with a refresher on The Receptionist’s other key safety and security features to keep you fully up-to-date on how our visitor management software can help protect the employees and guests in your office.
Heads up: our international customers will want to check a few boxes to ensure all guests and employees receive these notifications. Head over to our support article for full details on the ins and outs of the feature’s phone number requirements.
Our team is here to answer any questions about using broadcast notifications. Chat with us live using the orange button in the bottom-right of our website or your Receptionist admin portal. You can also email us at [email protected] or give us a ring at 888-315-5230.
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