Message server – communication with employees

Problematic email handling at city library

The city library, which has more than 30 branches across the city, has implemented eAuditor software throughout its organization. Once the hardware and license management issues were sorted out, the IT department began work on preparing the implementation of ongoing monitoring. Communication with users proved particularly important at this stage. Until now, the IT department has used email to transmit information. However, this did not work, among other things, because of:

• no response to e-mail received,
• no information about reading it,
• delay regarding mail service.

What kind of system was the client looking for?

The client needed an IT system where it would get information about when and who had read a particular message, and which messages were waiting to be read. He was also interested in the possibility of sending alerts – messages that will be displayed on the computer screen without the employee having to accept them via an encrypted connection. In addition, the client expected to be able to create a given administrator account, whose privileges would be limited only to functions related to communication with users. He also wanted the ability to send a message to multiple users at the same time, but with a structural division, such as send a message to all employees of branch 1.

The course of implementation of the eAuditor system in the city library

The answer to the client’s needs was to learn and apply the eAuditor system’s message server mechanisms. It is a set of 4 functional elements responsible for communication with employees:

1. quick message – where the Administrator can instantly – in less than 10 seconds! – display, for example, warning messages to all or selected employees.

2. message content – notifications that the Administrator sends to the User. It is worth noting that it is up to the user to decide when to display and read the received message.

3. e-learning – an extensive system of cyclical messaging (e.g. training, information on changes in regulations, notifications reminding of good computer work practices, etc.).

4. instant messenger – which in this case was not the primary expectation of the Client, but allows chat between the Administrator and the User.

One of the significant advantages and, at the same time, features of the eAuditor program is the system of granting authorizations. It allows you to create any number of administrative accounts, each of which can be given unique and detailed permissions. The profile, which was set up according to the client’s expectations, included the following conditions:

• access only to functions: quick message and messages (all views in the system about computers, licenses, monitoring, among others, are to be inaccessible/inactive);
• the ability to send messages to all users;
• the ability to send messages “to computers” for automatic display (without user confirmation), limited only to designated organizational structures.

What did the customer gain from the eAuditor system?

As a result of the above tools, a new standard for communication between the IT department and employees has been built. As a result, the customer gained:

• Quick messages (alerts/alerts), which are used when employees need to be informed immediately, e.g. about a planned interruption in access to network resources, and when employees need to be warned, e.g. against opening suspicious correspondence sent to e-mail boxes (phishing attacks).
• The ability to use messaging as the primary form of information transmitted from users to computers. By defining the cycle of sending messages, Administrators are assured (and confirmed in the system) that each employee – for example, once a month – will receive a specific message.
• The ability to provide an instant messenger for users to use when they need to get in quick contact with the equipment maintenance department.

The use of the e-learning function has also attracted the interest of the human resources department, which is responsible for organizing internal training (including training on compliance with regulations). After a brief introduction, the human resources department conducted a pilot training to remind people of the most important provisions of the regulations. The following changes were made:

• A series of messages with content, images and links has been introduced,
• The conditions for conducting the training were then defined. One message/lesson per day (on weekdays, except Mondays) will be delivered for two weeks,
• The training was sent to all employees and from then on it was possible to record its progress on an ongoing basis in terms of “person – training topic – progress”, e.g., a particular user attended 3 out of 8 training courses on health and safety.

You may be interested in