Benefits of DeskAlerts API Integration to Your Business. Your business is unique. No matter what industry you are in, no matter which country or countries you operate in, your business structure, business culture and policies, and procedures, as well as the people who make up your organization, set you apart from your competitors even if they are working in the same industry.

If you’ve decided that you need to improve on or completely overhaul your company’s internal communications, finding systems and products that are a perfect fit can be tricky. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to internal communication that is guaranteed to work and improve information flow, boost engagement, improve productivity, and help with staff retention rates. Quite often it takes using a combination of channels and approaches to get the right results.

Many businesses around the world have started using DeskAlerts – an internal communications software platform – that has revolutionized the way they communicate with their employees. The software enables pop-up notifications containing important corporate information to be sent straight to employees’ desktop computers, bypassing the email system which has become an increasingly unreliable channel for corporate communicators to use.

DeskAlerts notifications can be sent and seen no matter what other software application the employee is using at the time, and can even be sent to screens that are on standby or screensaver mode. Messages can be customized and send on templates that match your corporate branding. You are able to send in a variety of formats including text, pictures, video and links to HTML content. You can also send polls, surveys, quizzes, RSVPs and newsletters.

On the administration side, the user interface that allows you to send DeskAlerts to your employees provides statistics in real time so you can see who has received your messages and who hasn’t. Results from any quizzes, polls, sureys and RSVPs are also displayed in real time.

For many organizations, DeskAlerts suffices for their needs straight out of the box. They are able to integrate it into their internal communications plans and use it the way they need to within their organizations.

But if you have additional needs and want DeskAlerts to integrate with other systems that your organization uses, there is often a custom solution that can be built for you using the DeskAlerts API (application programming interface). Clients in different organizations provided feedback to DeskAlerts staff that they would like to integrate the system with third-party applications, and the company responded to these needs.

The DeskAlerts team of professionals can help you to build custom features that fit your business and help you improve your internal communication by enabling you to use several systems through one interface. DeskAlerts’ third party integration API means that other software applications you commonly use can trigger DeskAlerts notifications being sent to your staff.

Depending on your industry, this could include things like service desk ticketing systems, ITSM systems or event correlation systems. Clients in the healthcare industry often integrate DeskAlerts with their local ERM systems. Call centers use it to integrate with call center management software. While human resources departments often integrate DeskAlerts sith systems such as anonymous and non-anonymous opinion polling.

The API enables DeskAlerts to handle requests from virtually any third party system that is equipped with built in call-raising and request functionalities. Other creative custom uses for the DeskAlerts API include hospital bed management, sales records and oil tanker tracking.

Creating solutions for you 

DeskAlerts client Catalyst Paper is a manufacturer of a broad range of paper products based in British Columbia, Canada. They produce industrial packaging, food service papers, newsprint, and pulp among other products, and have three paper mills with an annual capacity of 1.3 million tonnes.

The company was looking or a reliable solution to use to send emergency notifications when it turned to DeskAlerts to provide a customized solution.

As a manufacturing concern, Catalyst Paper, like many other manufacturing concerns, uses Data Historian systems to acquire data about its operational environments, quality assurances, performance monitoring and operational control. The company saw the need to integrate the Data Historian system with the DeskAlerts interface to alert employees to any emerging threats that were detected by the Data Historian system.

“At Catalyst Papers, we have used DeskAlerts for a variety of functions, one of which is leveraging the API to send critical safety messages out of our Data Historian systems,” wrote Jon Claude, the Manager of Manufacturing Systems for Catalyst Paper.

“By monitoring systems in various areas of our production environment we are able to trigger plant-wide messages in the event that hazardous conditions arise, such as dangerous levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S)” he said.

Sulfur dioxide is byproduct of paper bleaching. It is a gas that is invisible, but does have a nasty smell. When breathed in it can result in a range of respiratory complications for the person who has been exposed to it, and can also be fatal. It can also be explosive if it is heated.

Hydrogen sulfide is also used in the manufacturing process and is a colorless gas that smells of rotten eggs. It is extremely toxic and can cause death, as well as a whole host of other health complications. Naturally, Catalyst Paper wants to ensure that its employees are safe, given they work in environments where they could be exposed to these types of chemicals.

“Safety and environmental stewardship are part of our core operating philosophies and the flexibility the DeskAlerts API offers has allowed us the opportunity to drive for results in this category and ensure we are taking all steps necessary in order to ensure the health and safety of our employees,” says Jon Claude.