For all the confidence millennials display, most are anxious about their physical safety, even opting out of activities for fear of perceived risks, reports ADT in a survey it commissioned in late 2017.
Three out of four surveyed millennials say they’ve avoided experiences due to safety concerns in the past year:
- 34% have avoided crowded spaces like malls, concerts, or sporting events
- 30% avoided public transport
- 26% opted out of solo travels
- 25% won’t exercise alone
- 90% go as far as switching up workout times, places and routes they take home, or carry protection like pepper spray
To manage risks, 94% of millennial women and 85% of men view their mobile devices as a safety net: a way to receive and send information quickly, especially in emergencies when every passing second breeds more anxiety or risks.
Mobile/Email/SMS as Vital Layers of Your Emergency Response
It’s why effective emergency response must include mobile mass notification as one of several communications layers. Those notifications should be instant, relevant and actionable for each user group. That means each recipient should notice your alert promptly, understand what’s happening and what to do about it — in seconds.
In short, your emergency response should include two chief capabilities:
- Automated responses to pre-set keywords (e.g. tornado, active shooter, construction).
- Ability to instantly disseminate alerts in a variety of ways (phone, email, desktop, pager, etc.), with content customized for each user group or audience segment.
Even in non-emergencies (say, road closures, construction updates or weather-related cancelations), the ability to reach audiences instantly is vital to ensure rapport, peace of mind and smooth operations.
Budget Considerations
Budget’s always a consideration, of course.
The good news is you can increase mass notification capabilities using tools you already have today, integrating and enhancing those existing technologies with a single piece of software. (Think of it as a single dashboard that centralizes, augments and lets you manage all communications and security tools from one place.)
In terms of budgeting and investment ROI, it’s worth noting layered mass communications don’t just benefit emergency planning and response. They can also boost operations, revenue, customer and staff engagement, as covered in an earlier post.
The best outcome we can hope for in emergency planning is never having to use those plans — yet we know that’s not realistic in today’s world. If your staff, customers or other target audiences include millennials, at the very least equip them to feel secure and in-the-know during moments that have the potential to trigger anxieties.
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