Centralised notification workflow hub reduces risk of business interruption

Potsdam, Germany, 14 October, 2008: Derdack, provider of mobile messaging platforms and notification workflow software today announced that Sheraton Belgium, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, has completed the roll out of its original implementation of message master® Enterprise Alert. Alerting and notification processes for the Four Points hotel is now controlled by a centralised installation of message master® Enterprise Alert, Derdack’s notification workflow software, at Sheraton Towers.

Message master® Enterprise Alert was first installed at the Sheraton Towers and Sheraton Airport hotels. The software integrates with internal fire and technical systems that monitor business critical functions such as fire detectors, emergency doors and temperature sensors.

When an event is detected, it is sent via a serial link (fire system) or using internal SMTP server (technical system) to message master® Enterprise Alert. The software intelligently analyses the content of the message to determine if it has been triggered by a fire or technical alarm.

Depending on the notification workflows, the software transmits the alarm via SMS to a predetermined group of users using up to four GSM modems to ensure sufficient capacity. Personnel must respond and acknowledge within a certain timeframe, otherwise the alert is escalated to the next level.

The implementation of message master® Enterprise Alert has delivered a number of business benefits. According to Sheraton’s Olivier Uytterhoeven, Director of IT, Starwood Hotels Brussels, “message master® Enterprise Alert enables us to more effectively protect our customers, our people and our operations. It gives us greater flexibility over how we run our business and ensures that we can respond quickly and efficiently should an emergency occur.”

SMS sent by message master® Enterprise Alert is not limited in length meaning it can convey more detail that is useful to the recipient. The SMS can be sent to any mobile device even those outside of the hotel, allowing staff to be contacted when they are off the premises. Staff carry a single mobile device reducing the number of pieces of equipment that need to be maintained. SMS costs have also been slashed, thus minimising ongoing system costs.

“We wanted seamless and reliable integration of our mobile communication system to our alerting and notification systems. message master® Enterprise Alert delivers this 100%. It has enabled us to respond more quickly and frees up staff time to concentrate on dealing with events as they occur thus reducing our business risks. We now have a flexible, future proof solution that can integrate with any of our monitoring systems,” concluded Uytterhoeven.

Matthes Derdack, Managing Director of Derdack commented, “We are pleased that the implementation of message master® Enterprise Alert has been so well received at the Sheraton, and that they appreciate not just the business benefits from a centralised notification workflow perspective but also the incremental benefits they could realise in other parts of their business.”