Employee Group Communication: Text Alerts During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Successful organizations are adapting their group and employee alerts to communicate more regularly and effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Simplified Alerts group text messaging clients are modifying employee alerts to provide regular COVID updates with vital information to keep their workforce notified. This is a “table stakes” requirement in 2020; ever-changing daily news and updates about the impact of the virus on the organization are of utmost importance to operations.
We’ve often said the Simplified Alerts platform can be “Macgyvered” for any use or need. Clients have utilized this build-to-suit option as they have found new and important ways to communicate during this COVID pandemic. Examples include polling for instant feedback, providing reminders to inform the team, or initiating Q+A responses to create interactive engagement. Using an employee text alerts platform like Simplified Alerts is critical to the success of your messaging plan.
Here is a more detailed look at how some clients have changed or created new text messaging programs within their organizations.
Text Employee Reminders and Well-Being Checks During the COVID Crisis
Good communication is essential for employees and managers alike, and it’s never been more important than during the COVID crisis. In 2020, many organizations have moved beyond simply sending emergency-only text alerts or notifications. They have started sending more frequent updates and check-in requests. Because text messages are read at far higher rates than email (and responded to within 90-seconds), this has led to a more informed and engaged workforce.
Text alerts regularly prompt subscribers to take an action. In COVID times, they may urge an employee to take and/or monitor temperatures and vital stats daily per company protocols. Texts might also serve as a simple reminder to visit the corporate webpage dedicated to the organization’s COVID response, especially when it is updated with new information.
A well-being check can arrive each morning in the form of a simple, one-question SMS poll sent to a list of subscribers: “Do you have any COVID symptoms?” The subscriber can reply “Yes” or “No” and the response then triggers a different and appropriate follow-up message. These polls can be automated to be sent at the same time each weekday and targeted to subsets within each group or list.
The well-being check can also be triggered by a subscriber who texts in using a keyword. For example, a floor worker at a distribution center concerned that they may have been exposed to another employee exhibiting COVID symptoms can text “Exposed” to 12345. This automatically triggers a poll to the subscriber asking: “Do you think you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID?” A reply “Yes” or “No” captures their response for the record and triggers an all-important follow-up message: “Please exit the floor and contact HR at extension 2252.”
Or, their text of “Exposed” can prompt a link to a long-form survey that asks for more details about their exposure.
Creating a Dialog with Text Alerts
Simplified Alerts Advanced allows for interactive messaging, so you can send messages and respond to subscriber questions and feedback. Receive these texts through a dedicated customizable inbox.
It’s possible to create a unique keyword that subscribers can text to receive a message or feedback. For example, an employee can text ACMECOVID to 64800 and HR can send back a message, “ACME COVID Hotline. See our Q+A web page for more information about our response.” This would supply a URL link to the company Q+A page.
If the subscriber texts a question, you can respond through the inbox with a reply. Clients tell us that using keyword messages has created a positive experience for employees throughout the organization.
