Why Your IC Team Needs Desktop Alert Software

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

How many times have you published an article on your intranet or sent a company-wide email and wondered, ‘Did anyone even read that?’. That’s a tough spot to be in, and we know it can be frustrating to spend time crafting the perfect message when it just gets lost in an inbox or on the intranet. The first reason we think your IC Team needs Desktop Alert software; it will bring your message directly to any intended recipient. Keep reading for more reasons – we’re sure you’ll be converted when you’re done reading this blog.

In case you missed our latest blog about how to use our Desktop Alerts to spread IT communication effectively, we’ll explain what desktop alerts are.

Desktop alerts are notifications that appear on your desktop when you receive a new message, request, or task. They usually pop up in the right lower corner of your computer screen to draw attention – which they do! This makes them an ideal vehicle for important information, something we conveniently use in our Desktop Alert solution.

Our Desktop Alerts can appear in your right lower corner or take over the entire screen to ensure staff gets your message. This way, they bypass email and the intranet entirely to get attention. They will appear regardless of what else the recipient is doing at that time. Sounds pretty intrusive? They are! This means the information that’s sent this way is hard to ignore. And there’s more benefits to using Desktop Alert software:

High reader numbers

Desktop Alerts cannot be blocked or stopped by pop-up blockers – they will always be delivered to every intended recipient and will never get lost in an inbox or on an intranet, increasing readership numbers. Tracking readership is easy, too: you just add an acknowledgment button and check who clicked it to see how many people have actively read your message.

Added bonus: our CMS will automatically track who’s read your message, when, and even from which device. Does the data show that some people still haven’t acknowledged reading the message? Combine our Desktop Alerts with our Attention Boosters; in multiple attempts, they will automatically retarget your colleagues that haven’t read your message yet until they read it. Guarenteed readership!

Maximum visibility for important messages

When you publish a Desktop Alert, your targeted audience group will receive a pop-up notification directly on their desktop screens. High-priority messages will appear on top of the full-screen applications employees are working with at that moment, which means you draw their attention even when they’re busy. There is no need to change windows or browsers, so your messages always get maximum visibility.

Highly invasive communication

Desktop Alerts can be highly invasive if you want them to be, for example when your message is seriously urgent. You can choose for your Desktop Alert to take over the entire targeted screen, which means they will appear on top of every other application and will be screen-filling until employees close the application.

Timely delivery of crucial information

Desktop Alerts will be published and delivered as soon as you hit the ‘publish’ button, which means your colleagues will receive the information in real-time. This way, you’ll never have to worry your news won’t reach your colleagues in time; it will reach them only moments after publication and will keep them up-to-date on any important news or urgent situation.

Best practices when using Desktop Alert Software

When you incorporate Desktop Alerts into your internal communications toolkit, there’s a few things that you can do (or not do) to ensure you get the most out of them:

• Target the right employees
  However urgent or important, some messages are only relevant to certain employees. Be sure to target the right audience groups when you use Desktop Alerts. If employees keep getting ‘urgent’ messages that pop up on top of all other applications when they aren’t even relevant messages, your colleagues will probably get annoyed with your Desktop Alerts very quickly.
• Don’t overdo it
  The reason Desktop Alerts work – because they are intrusive – may also be the reason your colleagues will find them annoying. Only send Desktop Alerts when the information is genuinely important and must reach your employees fast, all at once. If you publish too many Desktop Alerts, you will diminish their impact, and you might end up in a situation where your employees will dismiss your pop-ups without even reading them.
• Publish at the right time
  Don’t wait until the very last moment to publish important messages if you can avoid that. Also, consider when most people will be working: a Monday morning will probably result in higher reader numbers than a Friday afternoon.
• Consider your colleagues’ to-do lists
  If you have a general idea of what’s happening in your colleagues’ schedules, consider their most important tasks. For example, if you know large parts of your colleagues are working to meet a big deadline, maybe try to send your message when the deadline has been met to avoid interrupting important work.

Do you think your organization could benefit from Desktop Alerts Software? Get in touch with our consultants or schedule a free 30-minute demo; they are happy to show you how our Desktop Alerts can help you reach your employees optimally. Or download our free infographic the power of push notifications.