How Can Sentinel Improve My Crisis Communications?

In developing Sentinel, we built a series of powerful communication, collaboration, and file distribution tools. They are designed to be intuitive, and easy to use. Making complex and otherwise time consuming activities simple.

When used for crisis communications, Sentinel delivers signficant improvements including the ability to:

• Simplify and accelerate the release of crisis communications
• Support information exchange and decision-making to improve and accelerate crisis response and resolution
• Allow teams to respond to crisis situations from any location
• Ensure crisis communication plans and documents are always available
• Provide resilient crisis communication channels in worst-case scenarios
• Deliver insight for post-event analysis to improve future crisis communications

Simplify and accelerate the release of crisis communications

Using the Sentinel Mass Alerting module, teams can create pre-approved crisis communication broadcasts for a range of crisis scenarios, combining message templates and distribution lists.

When these set scenarios occur, your crisis communications can be sent within minutes. This creates a range of crisis communication improvements:

• Crisis response teams are alerted faster, so can get started on resolving the situation sooner.
• Public relations teams can break the news first. So you can control the narrative and prevent the spread of misinformation. Helping protect the company’s reputation through demonstrating positive action.
• Staff, customers and the public are quickly informed of the situation, so they can react accordingly to:
  • Make themselves safe - evacuating or avoiding an area.
  • Take steps to mitigate any potential risks - changing account passwords, keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, informing third parties potentially effected.
  • Not flood you with inbound enquiries as they stumble across the situation.
  • Be confident the situation is being handled to minimise or prevent negative sentiment.

Improve information exchange & decision-making to accelerate crisis response and resolution

Sentinel Chat Channels and Secure Instant Teleconferencing modules deliver purpose-built spaces for your teams to communicate and collaborate in crisis situations.

Whether through instant messages or voice conference calls, Sentinel connects your teams to exchange information, establish facts, debate and formulate decisions in real-time. Focussing your response efforts to accelerate crisis resolution, while keeping your key audiences safe and updated throughout the situation.

Teams can respond to crisis situations from any location

Sentinel empowers your teams with access to crisis communication tools and documentation, regardless of their location.

Whether in the office, at home, or on the move, teams can begin crisis communications and response efforts immediately through their chosen internet-connected desktop, tablet, or smartphone device.

Utilising the full functionality of the platform through a web browser or mobile app access.

Provide resilient crisis communication channels for worst-case scenarios

In extreme crisis situations - cyber-attacks, power outages, natural disasters - your primary systems could be compromised, inaccessible or permanently offline.

Sentinel was developed for these worst-case scenarios. Providing an independent cloud-based platform built for resilience. Designed to provide crisis communication tools that remain available when all other systems fail.

Giving you the power to send targeted crisis communication mass alerts through secure and trusted channels. And providing backup communication channels where crisis and PR teams can continue to coordinate response efforts.

Ensure crisis communication plans and documents are always available

The Sentinel File Management module delivers a secure space to host, distribute and provide access to critical files and digital documents.

As an independent cloud-based system, the Sentinel platform ensures your critical documents are always available and accessible, even when internal systems fail. So your teams can access critical files like crisis communication plans and emergency contact lists.

Combined with the Sentinel Mass Alerting module, you can distribute these files to targeted recipients as crisis events occur. So teams have the plans and processes they need to respond accordingly.

Supporting both web browser and mobile app access, Sentinel ensures critical files and digital documents can be accessed anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Through the Sentinel Enterprise App module, you gain functionality to download these files to local devices for offline accessibility.

Auditing and analytics tools to improve future crisis communications

Sentinel tracks all actions, activities, and communications performed on the platform. This is made available in a detailed audit log, enriched with timestamp information.

Built-in reporting and analytics functionality lets you conduct in-depth post-crisis analysis of response efforts. You can unlock valuable insights like:

• Which communication channels get the best response rates when sending crisis alerts.
• Analysing recorded teleconferences to see how teams interact and formulate decisions in crisis calls.
• Where, when, and on what device team members access PR & crisis response plans.
• How inbound information in voicemails was routed, reacted to, and resolved.

All of this information can be used to identify areas for improvement in future crisis communications. This can involve training, updates to crisis communication plans, or changing the channels you use to communicate in crisis situations.

Activities, actions, and communications cannot be edited or deleted. Ensuring you get a complete and accurate picture of the events that occurred during the crisis. So vital information or mistakes aren’t misplaced or hidden.