Though it was initially developed as a tool for the military, mass notification systems have become an integral part of security operations for business offices, government buildings, as well as college and public school campuses.

To help clarify some of the regulations and best practices for implementing mass notification solutions, a group of industry experts discussed the topic during a webinar hosted by SIW on Thursday. The panel of webinar speakers included; David Nielsen, senior program manager, mass notification emergency communications for ADT Security Services, Derek Mathews, senior staff engineer, life safety and security for Underwriters Laboratories; Ruth Lovelace, director of emergency management and safety at University of Mary Washington; and, Matt Wolff, physical security manager for Fifth Third Bank.

According to Nielsen, the government has done a good job of hardening those facilities that would be among the top targets for terrorists, but he indicated that managers at businesses and other institutions need to be aware of attacks that may and probably will occur at places considered to be soft targets.

"The mantra is hope for the best, but plan for the worst," he said. "We live in an era where we have to think differently."

While there has been a litany of terror incidents that have changed the way we think about mass notification solutions, the bombings in Bali in 2005 introduced yet another element for security managers to consider. Being that that the attacks intentionally forced people in the streets where more bombs were detonated, those deploying emergency communication equipment must now take into account all possibilities surrounding an event, not just simply evacuating a building.

"We have to communicate with intelligibility and speed," Nielsen said.

Advanced warnings of impending natural disasters or dangerous weather situations are also important events that mass notification systems can be used to inform people of as evidenced by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

In fact, it was a weather event that Lovelace said demonstrated to her the urgent need for a MNS solution at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. She said a close call with a storm system that spawned a tornado that killed several people at the University of Maryland served as reminder of how important emergency communications can be to saving lives.

"I thought if I had a tornado bearing down on our campus at this particular moment, what would I do?" she asked.