WhatsApp for Crisis Management: A Crucial Tool in Enterprise Emergency Response
In moments of crisis, effective communication is of the greatest importance in mitigating the impact of it on individuals and communities. That’s where the channel you use becomes crucial and WhatsApp is winning the game.
WhatsApp Business API offers a lot of advantages for enterprise emergency responses, as it can provide both one-on-one as well as one-to-many conversation capabilities, broadcast features, automation and other benefits that make for cost-effective real-time communication at times of crisis.
In this article, we will delve into the importance of effective WhatsApp communication for emergencies during a crisis and why you should be using the WhatsApp Business API.
Importance of effective communication during emergencies
Here’s why effective communication is crucial in times of a crisis:
• Accurate and efficient conveying of information is essential to reduce panic, confusion, and uncertainty during emergencies. Much of this uncertainty can be averted with a swift channel for effective communication.
• Effective communication is vital for crisis management teams to function properly and utilize incident management strategies.
• Effective communication allows room for planning and offers a structured way to communicate with WhatsApp and take measures against further escalations.
• With the right channel, enterprises can even carry out mass alerting campaigns to alert people about the emergency and quickly provide guidelines.
• An effective communication channel will allow flexibility to accommodate multiple users, third-party services, API, and more efficient WhatsApp for emergency response strategies.
Considering the critical nature of emergencies, and the importance of a competent communication channel in such a context, WhatsApp ticks all the boxes of being an effective communication platform.
Taking a case study into consideration, The Government of India was able to build the world’s largest WhatsApp Chatbot during the pandemic.
With the help of the WhatsApp chatbot, GOI was able to curb misinformation greatly and provide accurate information to the people.
The chatbot answered 1.09 billion queries from more than 84 million Indian citizens in both Hindi and English, providing easy access to details on precautionary measures and symptom examination during the crisis.
Benefits of using WhatsApp in emergencies
• Cost-effective and efficient
WhatsApp is a cost-effective and efficient channel for swift communication during emergencies. Companies can reach out to a large audience in real-time, with minimal cost.
• Wide reach and simple interface
WhatsApp has a fairly simple UI and is easy to get around for all users. Additionally, the channel has a very wide user base, which makes it an ideal channel to reach and provide assistance to a large number of people.
• Quick response times
As emergencies require quick responses and real-time updates, WhatsApp Business API can be a highly impactful tool. It allows for instant responses, sharing current information and real-time alerting and updates, for efficient incident management.
• Reliable, scalable and accurate
WhatsApp is a scalable channel for companies and has all the tools necessary for providing reliable communication in emergencies. With optimized profiles, chatbots, digital catalogs and more, it is an ideal channel for streamlining communication, even in highly tense scenarios.
Ways to use WhatsApp in emergencies for enterprises
Based on how we have seen companies use WhatsApp for crisis management, here’s what we recommend:
• Optimize your WhatsApp profile
In times of crisis, optimizing your WhatsApp profile is essential to convey accurate and relevant information swiftly. Your business profile should be complete with up-to-date details, including a concise description, your contact information, and business operating hours. Make use of the status feature as well to provide brief updates or emergency contact details.
Additionally, consider using a recognizable professional profile picture or logo for quick identification of your company, nurturing trust among the users who seek assistance.
• Create digital catalogs
Enhance your enterprise emergency alert system with WhatsApp by creating accessible digital catalogs on WhatsApp. You can compile essential information like products and services, emergency procedures and relevant resources into easily available catalogs. To create a digital catalog with WhatsApp Business API:
1. Choose between PDF or HTML formats
2. Choose high-quality images
3. Include product/service information
4. Design a user-friendly layout for mobile devices
• Employ chatbots and digital assistants for common queries
Leverage chatbots to handle common queries and basic customer requests that typically arise in times of emergencies.
Chatbots are cost-effective, work 24/7 and require minimal human resources, leaving room for your agents to focus on major queries that need immediate attention and hands-on assistance. Besides this, you will be providing timely responses to all the customers who reach out to you with queries.
• Send emergency broadcasts
Leverage WhatsApp’s broadcast feature for disseminating urgent information to a wide audience. You can start by creating a designated broadcast list comprising key stakeholders, employees, and relevant contacts.
In times of emergency, you can send out broadcast messages containing vital updates, instructions, and safety guidelines. The WhatsApp broadcast feature allows for simultaneous communication with multiple recipients while maintaining the individual privacy of each recipient.
Key features to use WhatsApp for crisis management on WhatsApp
Some of the features we recommend using WhatsApp for crisis management and ensure timeliness of the same, include:
• Template messaging
WhatsApp allows for template messages that allow businesses to share pre-approved messages containing valuable information accurately during emergencies. These standardized replies are a great way to share crucial guidelines and resources to mitigate the impact of the crisis. Some other benefits of template messages include:
1. Easy customization to fit into a company’s emergency management needs
2. Can be used for quick responses
3. Allows companies to maintain a professional image even in the face of a crisis
4. Companies can automate responses with WhatsApp templates
5. Send out FAQs, public updates, helpline numbers, safety instructions and more
• Two-way communication features
WhatsApp allows for two-way communication, empowering users to seek valuable information, request assistance, or report incidents directly using WhatsApp in business communication.
The WhatsApp Business API facilitates the sharing of information between both organizations and customers with real-time interactions. This can significantly reduce the anxiety and panic that generally ensues after a crisis or a calamity.
Conclusion
WhatsApp with its diverse set of features and functions is a perfect channel for effective communication during emergencies. But it is important to be timely in such scenarios. For this you need automation.
By using the WhatsApp Business API, you can send timely updates, automate responses and provide active support instantly. By combining WhatsApp with a great tool like Interakt and leveraging the API, crisis management can be carried out in a much more effective manner.
If you’re working on setting up a crisis management workflow for your enterprise business, book a demo of Interakt today.
