About Aviation SMS Message Board Features
Business Case
Besides being an ICAO aviation SMS requirement, management frequently needs a mechanism to assure airline & airport team members receive important notices. Furthermore, management needs methods of documenting that users have received and acknowledged understanding of important aviation safety notices, whether they be:
- Aviation safety related policies and procedures;
- Important safety bulletins or announcements;
- Compliance statements; or
- Audit trail items.
Key Features of Aviation SMS Message Board
- SMS Pro's Message Board module allows airline and ariport managers to compose messages directed specifically to users belonging to roles, such as Department Heads, Pilots, Cabin Crew, etc.
- Users see these messages waiting in their Message Board after logging in.
- Managers can optionally send unmistakable emails with a subject line starting with ***Must Acknowledge***.
- Managers can see at a glance who has (or has not) responded or read the message.
- Managers can easily send reminder emails with one click.
- Additional features include full text search for previous messages, or filtering by target audience.
- Auditor review allows a very easy interface to review the items and see who has (or has not) acknowledged and easily see who acknowledged, as well as the date and time of their response.
- Auditor can also review by full text search or by targeted audience.
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| Communication helps improve safety performance! |
Message Board is not a high visibility module for an aviation safety management system, but it does help satisfy several ICAO SMS requirements. For example, in Phase 1, of an ICAO SMS Implementation plan, there is a requirement to "develop and establish means for safety communication." Message Board easily satisfies this requirement, just as the Newsletter module in SMS Pro.
Message Board can also be used to document aviation SMS training. SMS Induction Manager in SMS Pro nicely documents initial aviation SMS training, but isn't designed for remedial or recurrent training. Message Board documents user participation and understanding of airline and airport SMS training programs.
Message Board is also used in integrated aviation safety management systems where dispatchers acquire "reference numbers" from pilots before each mission. The business case is as follows: "Policy dictates that pilots must read the Message Board to learn status changes of aircraft, airports and special conditions." After signing off on a message, a popup window briefly appears with a reference number that pilots provide to the dispatcher before their mission. This is an optional feature, but easily configured.
How to best help your
Aviation Safety Management System
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About NWDS - founded in 2003 by six software engineers, NorthWest Data Solutions (NWDS) provides custom computer programming and systems design services. NWDS creates many types of software, including e-commerce, financial, defense, engineering, logistics, aviation and more. In 2007, NWDS developed SMS Pro™ a web based SMS application that supports an organization's overall SMS through safety reporting, safety documentation, safety risk management and safety assurance. SMS Pro™ is currently used by aviation organizations in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East to help manage their SMS programs. NWDS continues to support SMS Pro™ and add new functionality. NWDS offers custom contract programming services in the U.S. and Canada and is managed by Chris Howell, one of the founders. Their headquarters is in Anchorage, Alaska. For information on NWDS visit their website at www.nwds-ak.com and www.asms-pro.com to learn more about SMS Pro™.
