Critical communications are vital for both day-to-day operations and emergency scenarios. But guaranteeing that people receive and use the communication when they're overwhelmed with data every minute of the day is more challenging than it seems. While companies spend millions of dollars developing critical business content and making it available via communication vehicles such as Web-based portals, many of them cannot guarantee that the information is delivered to users when they need it, in a form that they can readily comprehend and use. The problem is exacerbated for mobile workers and "disconnected" users. These highly mobile individuals, such as executives, sales personnel, partners and distributors, are typically responsible for generating revenue; unfortunately, they have the most difficulty obtaining the information they need.

    To address these issues, CIOs must ask themselves: "Is access enough?"
    "When people can't obtain or interact with the right information at the right time, they can't make good business decisions," says Sandi Resnikoff, CTO and vice president of infrastructure at National Broadcasting Corp. (NBC), a major TV network whose business depends on communicating breaking news and program changes to more than 200 affiliates across the United States. "That's a serious obstacle for companies that depend on time-sensitive information. In many cases, CIOs deploy information systems that fail to engage users."

    Resnikoff has put her finger on one of the most important issues facing today's information technology (IT) professionals: Given the glut of information with which most business users have to contend, critical bits often get lost in the shuffle.

    NBC is a prime example. Affiliated TV stations are an integral part of NBC's overall broadcast service. Unfortunately, with its old communication system, there was no guarantee that affiliates actually read and responded to real-time media alerts. The alerts are used for communicating breaking news feeds, programming changes and other essential events. Delayed interaction to this information was leading to lost airtime, lost advertising revenue and programming delays.

    The solution was to establish an urgent messaging system with guaranteed delivery capabilities based on proactive technology. The software allows NBC to deliver instantaneous alerts to affiliates and receive confirmation when affiliate managers interact with the data.

    "When a broadcast alert is sent out from NBC headquarters, all 200 affiliate programming managers receive an 'immortal flash'—a small box that pops up on the desktop—and the NBC chime sounds," Resnikoff explains. "As soon as managers click on the window and retrieve the information, we are notified at headquarters. If managers do not respond, the alerts are escalated to their pagers or cell phones until the information is retrieved—and receipt is confirmed."