Singlewire Software
Network-centric Mass Notifications for Emergency Communications

“In wake of emergency situations, when lives are at stake, relying only on SMS messages to alert people within a building and first responder services may not be effective,” reckons Paul Shain CEO of Singlewire Software. “It is important to incorporate as many communication channels as possible,” he adds. Singlewire focuses on fulfilling these needs through their network-centric notification software for emergency communications which is device agnostic and capable of delivering different alert formats.

Singlewire’s main application offering InformaCast, allows clients to have unprecedented control over designing mass notifications, assigning them to specific recipients, and determining the medium for dissemination—IP phones, IP speakers, email, and others—perfectly customized to their customers’ specific environments. All these solutions are bundled with Cisco Unified Communication Manager (CUCM). This means all CUCM customers have a powerful emergency notification platform built into their environments. The emergency messages are instantly sent to CiscoIP phones, as well as existing overhead paging systems, digital signage, and computer desktops.

“We effectively leverage the communication infrastructure that customers already have,” remarks Shain.“To achieve such an expertise, we hold user group meetings and listen to the input of our customers. We also look for notification gaps. For example, in the approach to the “Internet of Things,” we see lots of devices capable of triggering a message, but many of these sensors or systems are not very good at notification delivery. That is where we bridge the gap,” he adds. For instance, in the healthcare sector, it’s not only about safety but also about noiseless notification methods. Singlewire focuses on how caregivers are communicating today and looking at the best practices, such as how codes are handled, groups of nurses communicate, and emergencies are communicated.

Singlewire offers its efficient emergency communication systems to verticals such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail, higher-education, K-12 and others.One of the Singlewire’s clients, The Middleton Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) improved emergency preparedness by implementing InformaCast with their Cisco phone system.MCPASD is a large district located in a suburb of Madison, WI. The district serves approximately 7,000 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. As in many K-12 districts across the nation, MCPASD administrators and staff were increasingly concerned with having a way to protect their students in the event of an emergency. They needed a way to send coordinated emergency alerts within individual schools and across the district. They also had special challenges because the district is within the jurisdiction of eight municipalities. This made it hard to coordinate with all of the different first response agencies in those municipalities.

The emergency messages are instantly sent to CiscoIP phones, as well as existing overhead paging systems, digital signage, and computer desktops

Singlewire’s software allowed the school to create a centralized, easy-to-use system for targeted communication. It allowed MCPASD administrators and staff to lock down their schools, send alerts to key staff, call for assistance from classrooms, and send district-wide weather alerts.

Going forward, Singlewire wants to become the industry standard for advanced notification delivery by further developing its partner network around the Internet of Things. “Our cloud service, InformaCast Mobile, allows any authorized user to send messages from anywhere, at any time, and reach anybody, anywhere,” concludes Shain.