Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/57337
Business students must be prepared to lead The Instant Messenger I through a crisis, says Cinta Putra, CEO of emergency notification communications company 3n. They need the perspective and know-how to help their organizations recover and survive. by Tricia Bisoux M. SMS. E-mail. Wi-fi. Texting. When it comes to the business of one-touch, "one-call-to-all" crisis communications, Cinta Putra often speaks in a rush of acronyms and technological lingo. As CEO of 3n (National Notification Network), a leading emergency communications systems provider based in Glendale, California, Putra knows that organizations can better survive a crisis if they can communicate instantly and reliably to everyone in their networks when disaster strikes. Putra graduated with her BBA from California State University in Fullerton in 1989; she earned her MBA from Cal State in Dominguez in 1993. She knew early in her business education that problem solving was her passion, she says. That passion has largely driven her entrepreneurial success. In the wake of the attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, Putra and her three busi- ness partners—Steve Kirchmeier, James Keene, and Patrick Stuver—realized how tragic it can be when organizations and emergency service providers are unable to communicate with their people in a crisis. Together, the partners founded 3n, which provides technology that allows organizations to send important messages to everyone in their database across all communication paths, including voice mail, instant messaging (IM), short messaging service (SMS, or text messaging), and e-mail. They also can receive real-time reports that track who has received the message and who has yet to respond. Since its founding, 3n has provided communication services to orga- nizations during Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and other emergency situations. Recently, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg select- ed 3n to provide its new emergency communication system, a plan already in the works before a gunman shot 32 students and faculty members on its campus in April 2007. Using the system, named VT Alerts, campus administrators can send emergency messages to students, faculty, and staff via phone calls, e-mails, and text messages sent to mobile devices; the school also can send instant messages through AOL, Yahoo, and MSN. Moreover, the system allows subscribers to list emergency contacts, including parents, spouses, and other friends and family. As a business leader—and a wife and mother of four children—Putra knows a thing or two about crisis management. She emphasizes that unexpected emergen- cies are inevitable in business, and each requires a calm response and unique solutions. To manage through them and rise above them, business students must do more than rely on standard business models and traditional solutions. They must communicate effectively, work well with those around them, and think on their feet to attend to the problem at hand. 16 BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008