UK: SI-gnal from Netsoft IT Answers Criticisms That Businesses Aren´t Taking "People" Security Seriously

With businesses around the globe struggling to protect themselves from the impact of both real and hoax terrorist threats, in addition to the well-understood risks of fire, flood and chemical spill, an innovative new product from London-based Netsoft IT claims to at least have part of the answer.

According to Netsoft IT, and backed up by research from all over the world, the key to effective crisis management is the delivery of accurate, reliable, real-time and relevant information. Put simply, evidence gained from real and simulated mass-impact incidents has conclusively proven that staff and the public do not react as quickly as is desirable when they hear only an alarm bell. Of greater significance, perhaps in the case of a suspect package or vehicle, chemical spill or gas escape, evacuation is not appropriate because it would potentially increase the risk to life. In which case, just how do organisations communicate the correct instructions to their staff and visitors?

SI-gnal integrates alarm systems to IT networks, using existing IT infrastructure to deliver powerful, compelling and above all information-rich messages directly to the desktop. Using a variety of resources including security staff, CCTV, building management systems and the fire alarm system, SI-gnal ensures that the greatest number of recipients are able to determine the cause, nature and impact of an incident and what action they should take. In exceptional circumstances SI-gnal can entirely take over a computer rendering it useless until the system administrator re-enables it.

This ability to stop people working is critical, as according to studies in the US, Canada and Europe, the key to provoking people to respond to a crisis situation is to halt their normal behaviour, causing them to evaluate what is going on around them. By then providing topical information describing the event, perhaps including maps to refuge points or escape routes, animation to reinforce the need for action, instructions to those with designated crisis-management roles and messages that change during the life-cycle of an incident as more information becomes available, all staff can appreciate the urgency of the situation and will be more receptive to the instructions given. In one study (Ramachandran, "Informative Fire Warning Systems", Fire Technology, Vol 27), reaction times for an incident described both visually and audibly improved to one sixth of the time taken to react when only a bell or siren was used.

To find out more about SI-gnal, contact Netsoft IT on +44 (0) 208 661 1918 or by email at enquiries@netsoft-it.com