Top 3 reasons to upgrade your crisis response plan with an emergency notification system today

Rising rates of workplace violence and natural disasters demonstrate that it’s not if, but when you will need a comprehensive crisis response plan to protect your workers and business. 

Understandably, reports of workplace emergencies can shake your employees’ sense of safety. In fact, recent research reviewed in Safety + Health magazine reveals that more than one in four workers say their fears have “skyrocketed within the last few years.” The same study showed that physical safety on the job is important to 96% of workers, yet 46% don’t feel completely safe or prepared for an emergency at work.

Does your crisis response plan build trust with your workers?

To stay happy, productive, and innovative, employees must trust that their employers are invested in their safety–and prepared for the worst case scenario. This requires detailed emergency planning, with reliable systems and technology that help you respond rapidly to prevent harm. 

Perhaps the most critical component of this planning is communication. Yet this is often where crisis response plans fall short. In a 2025 survey of over 3,000 workers conducted by Alert Media, 39% of respondents cited poor communication as the top reason they feel unsafe in the workplace.

Sending the right message to the right people isn’t easy when the pressure is on, but an emergency notification system can think for you–helping your team move faster, eliminate confusion, and stay compliant while delivering life-saving instructions to your workforce. 

Keep reading to learn the top three reasons your crisis response plan is incomplete without robust emergency notifications, as well as what to look for when implementing an emergency notification system.  

#1 When time is precious, you need targeted alerts that reach the right people, right away. 

The August 2024 study of 1000 companies by Fusion Risk Management found that insufficient communication channels during an emergency was the achilles heel of crisis planning for 26% of survey respondents. The simple and comprehensive fix is an emergency notification system that delivers clarity while giving you flexibility to tailor messages by audience and incident type. 

Sending the same alert to everyone creates noise and slows action. The best notifications are quick, relevant, and cut through the chaos—whether you’re on a factory floor, in a lab, or at a hybrid office. For example, if a water leak only affects one wing, there’s no need to alert the whole building. A good system lets you reach just the people who need to know.

Tip for teams: Concerned about communication during a crisis in your manufacturing facility? Need to quickly reach workers across the floor, even during shift changes or in loud environments? Envoy provides mobile alerts, cross-channel messaging, and real-time data to keep everyone on the same page.

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#2 Real-time presence data can show exactly who’s onsite in an active shooter, contamination, or weather event. 

We don’t get to choose when and how crises happen in the workplace, so access to real-time data that shows personnel by location is a must for preserving safety and collaborating with crisis response teams. 

Can you locate and provide information to your team during a flash flood or tornado? Can you protect and guide your workers through an encounter with an intruder? Gallagher Insurance and Risk Management reports that 80% of active shooter incidents occur in the workplace, making real-time presence data a mission-critical component of daily operational safety and crisis planning. 

Manual sign-in sheets and disconnected systems make it impossible to assess and respond to emergencies efficiently. Instead, look for a notification system that can pull live data from multiple sources—like desk bookings, visitor check-ins, or room reservations. Real-time visibility helps you:

• Identify exactly who’s in a specific floor, zone, or building
• Reach temporary workers or contractors without guesswork
• Avoid sending irrelevant messages to the wrong people
• Empower your local teams with insights so they can act fast

Tip for teams: If you work in an office space with a hybrid office policy, Envoy can keep teams and visitors informed with alerts based on real-time presence. Message employees where they are, display alerts in lobbies or meeting rooms, and make sure guests aren’t left in the dark.

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#3 You’ll get back to business faster with seamless documentation that keeps you audit-ready.

Clear communication is crucial when preparing for and responding to emergencies. But, you also need meticulous incident reports and records to recover faster, improve future response plans, and stay audit-ready. Your emergency notification system should automatically log every alert and response, so when the dust settles, you can focus on what’s next instead of piecing together what happened.

Tip for teams: Work in bio-pharma with multiple lab facilities? Send the right message without interrupting sensitive work with Envoy. Use templates for common lab incidents, limit alerts to affected areas, and automatically log everything for easy audits.

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Envoy’s Emergency Notifications is purpose-built for your workplace

While no one can prevent emergencies, proactive planning combined with the right technology can take a potential crisis to business as usual before disaster strikes. The strongest emergency communication plans aren’t just about responding. They help you prepare, act, and learn. 

Envoy equips your team with the right tools every step of the way.

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Every emergency plays out differently. But with a system built for speed, clarity, and control, your team can stay ready for whatever comes next.

Want to see what this looks like in action? Get The must-have guide to workplace emergency planning.