IT SMS Alerts Guide + System Outage Communication Templates
IT SMS Alerts Guide + System Outage Communication Templates

Learn Best Practices in Outage Communication for Sending IT SMS Alerts and Email Notifications 

When (not, if there’s an outage) the people using your infrastructure or services need updates—fast. 

But you’re not a human pager system. You can’t waste time firing off unread emails and getting sent to voicemails.

So what’s the most immediate way to reach your stakeholders?

Text alerts. 

In this article, I cover:

  • What a system outage notification is and what IT SMS alerts are
  • Why IT SMS alerts work during system outages and critical IT events
  • How to send IT SMS alerts and notifications to the right people, fast
  • 7 best practices for communicating during a system outage
  • IT text message templates
  • IT email templates

So read on if you want to learn how to up-to-date systems information to stakeholders and improve their outage experience.

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Why IT SMS Alerts Work During System Outages and Critical IT Events

IT SMS alerts are highly effective in system outage notifications for several reasons. These include the following.

1. Text messages enable near-instantaneous communication

SMS alerts are the most immediate and direct way to communicate with stakeholders. 

Unlike email, texts don’t have delays or go unnoticed in crowded inboxes. SMS messages typically get delivered and read within minutes. 

In fact, 74% of people report having zero unread texts.

Texts also ensure that critical information reaches recipients promptly. This allows stakeholders to take necessary actions or precautions in real-time.

2. Text alerts have high open and response rates 

SMS messages have high open rates—surpassing email. SMS open rates can reach as high as 98% vs. around 20% for most email marketing.

Additionally, people are more likely to respond to SMS messages compared to other forms of communication. 

This high level of engagement ensures that important notifications are not only delivered but also acknowledged.

3. Texts are accessible on nearly every mobile device

Some 5.1 billion people use mobile devices globally.

This makes text alerts particularly valuable. Especially during system outages when stakeholders may be away or not actively checking their email.

The mobile-friendly nature of SMS alerts also means people can receive crucial information and act promptly.

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4. SMS messages are concise—this makes them actionable

SMS alerts often have character limitations. This makes crafting concise and focused messages important. 

It also forces organizations to prioritize essential information and communicate it clearly. 

CTAs (calls to action) further make texts actionable. They clearly indicate to recipients the next appropriate steps they need to take.

5. Texts have great reach, coverage, and delivery rates

SMS alerts have broad reach and coverage. You can send a text to virtually any mobile device with a phone number. 

This makes it a reliable communication channel for reaching a wide range of stakeholders, including:

  • Employees
  • Customers
  • Clients
  • Partners
  • Vendors

Regardless of the type of phone or network provider, SMS messages can be delivered successfully. Getting approved for carrier-verified 10DLC text messaging can further ensure high message delivery rates.

6. Text alerts can provide redundancy and increase reliability

IT SMS alerts can serve as a redundant communication channel during outages. 

In situations where other systems or services may be affected, you can still rely on SMS messages for critical notifications. 

They provide an additional layer of messaging and help ensure that important information reaches stakeholders. This happens even if other channels aren’t available or experiencing disruptions.

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IT text alerts vs. email alerts

Many businesses and organizations use email as their primary means of business notifications. 

This is mainly due to its reliability and high adoption rates.

However, more businesses and organizations are converting to SMS alerts to send critical information to stakeholders.

The main reasons IT text alerts work better than email alerts are because:

  • Text messages have a 98% open rate, compared to 20% for emails.
  • IT text alerts don't get flagged as spam.
  • 45% of people respond to emails, as opposed to 6% of email responders.
  • Text alerts reach people without internet access, and emails don't.

IT text alerts vs. phone calls

Phone calls are essential in business communications. You can use phone calls to establish an emotional connection with customers. 

But they lack the advantages that IT text alerts offer in business notifications.  

For example, 76% of people won't answer their phones due to the substantial spike in spam robot calls. And you are seven times more likely to get a response from a text message than a phone call message. 

Telephone calls also aren’t a scalable way of communicating with people during an outage. IT SMS alerts provide the reach your need.

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How to Send IT SMS Alerts and Notifications to the Right People, Fast

As you can see, text messages have advantages over email and voice - especially in urgent situations. 

But what steps do you need to take to set up an IT SMS alert system?

Below is a step-by-step guide for evaluating your options and getting started.

1. Choose an IT SMS alert system

The first step is choosing the right SMS solution provider. There are a bunch of SMS IT services available. But there are several key features you’ll want to look for when evaluating solutions.

The first key feature is high-volume, carrier-verified, mass texting—also known as 10DLC

This feature makes it possible to register a campaign and get near 100% delivery rates. Without this, you can only send a limited number of texts, and delivery isn’t guaranteed.

Note: MessageDesk’s text message broadcasts do support high-volume, carrier-verified 10DLC messaging.

The second grouping of features you’ll want to look for are:

  • Text message scheduling
  • Support for templates, tags, links, and media
  • Keyword-based autoresponder texts
  • Contact list management and custom fields
  • And integrations (depending on your messaging needs)

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2. Create a free account or start a free trial

You’ll want to start a free trial once you've found a text alert system. This gives you time to get answers to questions and test the platform's capabilities and reliability. 

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3. Select your SMS alert phone number

Most text alert providers also offer a range of text-enabled phone number options. In most cases, you can:

  1. Get a new business text number for sending alerts
  2. Port or host your existing business number for alerts
  3. Text-enable an existing business landline or VoIP number for text alerts
Note: MessageDesk supports all of the above phone number options. It also allows you to text from a local 10-digit number or a 1-800 toll-free phone number.

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4. Import and segment your contacts into groups and lists

Once you’ve got your SMS phone number configured, you’ll want to upload contact lists. MessageDesk makes this easy with built-in CSV upload and custom fields. 

It’s also easy to segment and add emergency contact lists for quickly sending emergency messages and different types of alerts.

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5. Create IT outage communication templates

Text message templates save you from the tedious task of typing the same message each time you broadcast a text alert. They also allow you to keep a queue of outage messages ready until needed.

A business texting service like MessageDesk makes it easy to customize and personalize your text messages. You can even:

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6. Schedule broadcasts       

Many text alert services, like MessageDesk, make it easy to schedule text messages to individuals and groups of contacts. 

Scheduled text messages to groups are often called broadcasts or text blasts

This feature makes it possible to reach everyone at a scheduled time with an emergency notification, alert, or update.

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7. Set up autoresponder automation

Autoresponders are a type of automated text message. They work particularly well for SMS text alerts and SMS emergency alerts because they’re activated with keywords. 

For example: you could set up a keyword like UPDATES or ALERTS and use that as a prompt. 

Someone can text that keyword prompt to your number. Then, they’re automatically subscribed to emergency messaging or notifications from your organization.

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8. Connect your text alert systems to integrations like Zapier

Integrations like Zapier can help you send automatic text alerts and emergency messages. 

Zapier has its own limited SMS option (SMS by Zapier). But you can also integrate it with an SMS notification system like MessageDesk. This further enables emergency mass text messaging with more advanced workflows and features.

With MessageDesk and Zapier you can do the following and more:

Choose the Zapier SMS integration you want to use
  • Add or update a contact: sync contacts and text-enable a CRM as an IT SMS alert system.
  • Add contacts to a group: This option includes adding outside contacts to MessageDesk.
  • Send a message: This feature allows you to trigger a text message to launch when an action happens in another app. You can also automatically send a message before an event occurs.
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7 Best Practices for Communicating During a System Outage

I’ve covered what IT SMS alerts are and how to get started with SMS information technology.

This next section clears up any questions you may have about text message etiquette and outage communication strategy.

1. Be prompt and define outage severity levels as part of an IT outage communication plan

Notify your stakeholders as soon as possible about a system outage. Prompt communication helps manage expectations and minimizes confusion.

Establishing severity levels can also help you to prepare for a planned or unplanned system outage. You can reference these codes when sending out alerts. 

Consider organizing outage SMS alert templates according to severity levels.

2. Coordinate and segment messages across your communication channels

Utilize multiple communication channels, such as IT SMS alerts, email notifications, and social media, to reach stakeholders effectively. Coordinating the messaging across these channels can help ensure consistency and avoid confusion.

You’ll also want to consider tailoring communication to different stakeholder groups based on their roles and responsibilities. 

This ensures that stakeholders receive information that is specific to their needs and reduces unnecessary noise.

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3. Take responsibility, acknowledge the issue, and empathize

Sincerity, openness, and honesty can help you manage stakeholder expectations during a system outage. Personalized SMS templates with tags for details like {{ FirstName }} can help you keep a more personal tone.  

​​Setting realistic expectations around resolution timelines also helps. Is the outage expected to last longer than expected? Communicate the updates promptly and explain the reasons for the delay. 

Being transparent about the situation helps manage stakeholders' expectations and reduces frustration.

4. Clearly communicate the scope and impact of the outage and avoid technical jargon

Craft clear and concise messages that convey the necessary information without overwhelming recipients. 

Clearly state the affected system or service, the nature of the issue, and the expected impact on users. 

Avoid technical jargon and use language that is easy for non-technical stakeholders to understand.

5. Utilize a CTA to point people toward contacts, communication leads, or designated support channels

A call to action can improve your text alert’s effectiveness. 

You can make your CTAs more effective by including an SMS link in the text message with a prompt phrase like:

  • OPT-IN for Updates
  • Learn More
  • For Further Assistance Contact…

Your CTAs can direct people to emergency contacts, customer support teams, or help desks for additional assistance.

You’ll also want to ensure that support channels are adequately staffed to handle increased inquiries during an outage.

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6. Communicate expectations clearly and don't overpromise

When adding time parameters to your IT text alerts, be clear and precise. 

But, in the case of an unscheduled outage, don't try to soften the blow by relaying the most optimistic timeline. This tactic often leads to disappointment for your recipients. 

You’ll also want to keep stakeholders informed of the progress being made to resolve the issue. 

Regular updates instill confidence and demonstrate transparency. Include information about:

  • The steps being taken
  • The estimated resolution time
  • And any workarounds or alternative solutions available 

7. Follow up and seek feedback when needed

You can optimize your IT text alert system by sending follow-up text messages when the outage is over. It shows the recipient you care about resuming regular activity.

Also consider encouraging stakeholders to provide feedback on the communication process and their experience after the outage. 

This feedback can help identify areas of improvement and further enhance outage message communication practices for future incidents.

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IT Text Message Templates

Below is a list of system outage notification templates for email and SMS IT support.

Feel free to copy and paste these IT service outage notification templates. In addition, you can check out my list of 100+ text message templates.

General technical outage notification

URGENT: We are experiencing a system outage affecting [specific system/service]. Our team is working diligently to resolve the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide updates shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Planned outage notification

NOTICE: Scheduled maintenance will be performed on {{ Date }} from {{ Time }} to {{ Time }}. During this period, [specific system/service] won’t be available. We apologize for any disruption caused and appreciate your understanding.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Incident investigation update

UPDATE: Our team is currently investigating the cause of the system disruption. We understand the impact it has caused and are working diligently to resolve it. We will provide further updates as soon as we have more information. Thank you for your patience.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Service restoration update

UPDATE: The issue with [specific system/service] has been resolved. Services are now restored. If you continue to experience any issues, please contact our support team. Thank you for your cooperation.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Power outage text message template

Hi {{ FirstName }}, there is a power outage in {{ Location }}. Technicians are working to restore power. Text "UPDATES" for further hourly updates.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Text message system outage notification sample

We want to alert you that our payroll system is experiencing a system outage. An update will come as we gather more information.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Downtime notification SMS template

Hi {{ FirstName }}, our {{ Department }} has an internet outage that will cause downtime in that area over the weekend. Text "UPDATES" for further alerts.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Network outage notification SMS template

To all staff members: A network outage has blocked access to client files. We will keep you posted through our helpdesk SMS.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Text message network maintenance notification template

Hi {{ FirstName }}, our internal network will be out of service from {{ Time }} to {{ TIme }} for scheduled maintenance. Text "HELP" for more assistance.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Service disruption occurred SMS template

Hi {{ FirstName }}: A service disruption has occurred in {{ Department }}. Visit {{ URL }} for further details.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

Server down text message template

A downed server has caused us to postpone today's planned activities until Monday. Please check your email for revised schedules.

Delivered 01/06/23, 07:01 am

IT Email Templates

System outage email template

System outage email template
To
support@messagedesk.com
Urgent: System Outage Notification

Dear [Recipient],

We are currently experiencing a system outage affecting [specific system/service]. Our team is actively working on resolving the issue and restoring normal operations as soon as possible.

We understand the impact this may have on your work and apologize for any inconvenience caused. We assure you that all necessary resources are dedicated to resolving the situation swiftly.

We will provide regular updates on the progress and expected resolution time. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated during this time.

Urgent concerns or questions? Please reach out to our support team at [contact information].

Thank you for your cooperation,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Service restoration update email

Service restoration update email
To
support@messagedesk.com
Update: Service Restoration

Dear [Recipient],

We are pleased to inform you that the issue with [specific system/service] has been successfully resolved. Services are now restored, and you should be able to access and utilize the system without any further interruptions.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience throughout the restoration process. Our team worked diligently to ensure a smooth resolution, and we have taken steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.

If you encounter any lingering issues or have any questions, please contact our support team at [contact information]. We are here to assist you.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Scheduled maintenance email notification

Scheduled maintenance email notification
To
sales@messagedesk.com
Notice: Scheduled Maintenance

Dear [Recipient],

We would like to inform you that scheduled maintenance will be carried out on [date] from [start time] to [end time]. During this maintenance window, [specific system/service] won’t be available.

The purpose of this maintenance is to perform essential updates and optimizations to ensure the system's performance, stability, and security. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.

We have taken measures to minimize the impact and complete the maintenance within the specified timeframe. Once the maintenance is completed, the system will be fully restored.

Questions or concerns? Please feel free to reach out to our support team at [contact information].

Thank you for your patience,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

System down email template

System down email template
To
support@messagedesk.com
Systems Down

Dear [Recipient],

We want to notify you of a scheduled system-wide shut-down from [Date] to [Date]. We hope this change doesn't inconvenience you too much. But we are performing urgent work on {{parts of the network}} that must be ready for our peak season. If you have more questions, contact the IT Team at [contact information].

Best regards,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Internet outage email template

Internet outage email template
To
support@messagedesk.com
Urgent: Internet Outage Notification

Dear [Recipient],

Our organization is currently experiencing an internet outage, impacting our services and your access to online resources. Our team is actively working to resolve the issue and restore internet service.

During this outage, you may experience an intermittent or complete loss of internet access.

This could affect email, web browsing, and other online services. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We will provide regular updates on the progress of resolving the issue. Our support team is available at [contact information] to assist you with any urgent matters or questions.

Thank you for your patience and understanding,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Power outage notification email sample

Power outage notificaiton email sample
To
support@messagedesk.com
Urgent: Power Outage Notification

Dear [Recipient],

Our facility is currently experiencing a power outage, impacting our operations and services. Our team is working to address the issue and restore power as soon as possible.

During this time, there may be limited access to electrical equipment and lighting. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We will provide updates on the progress of restoring power. If you have any urgent matters, please contact our support team at [contact information].

Thank you for your understanding,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Outage notification email template

Outage notification email template
To
support@messagedesk.com
Urgent: Service Outage Notification

Hi there,

We are currently experiencing a service outage. This may impact your access to our systems and services.

Our team is actively working to resolve the issue and restore services as quickly as possible.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience.

During this outage, you may experience limited or no access to specific systems or applications. Our team is working to fix the situation.

We will provide regular updates on the progress of resolving the outage. If you have any urgent matters, please contact our support team at [contact information].

Thank you for your understanding,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Server-down notification email

Server-down notification email
To
support@messagedesk.com
Urgent: Server Down Notification

Dear [Recipient],

One of our servers is currently down. This is impacting our IT services and your access to certain systems and applications. Our team is working to restore functionality as soon as possible.

During this time, you may experience limited or no access to specific systems. We apologize for any disruption caused.

We will provide updates on the progress of restoring the server. If you have any urgent matters, please contact our IT support team at [contact information].

Thank you for your understanding,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Server maintenance email template

Server maintenance email template
To
support@messagedesk.com
Planned Server Maintenance Notification

Dear [Recipient],

We want to inform you about upcoming server maintenance scheduled for [date] at [time]. This maintenance is essential to ensure optimal performance and reliability.

During this time, there may be temporary disruptions in accessing our systems and applications.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Our team is working diligently to minimize the impact and complete the maintenance as quickly as possible.

Maintenance Details:

  • Date: [Date]
  • Time: [Time] (Duration: [Estimated Duration])
  • Affected Systems/Applications: [List of affected systems or applications]
Please avoid accessing the affected systems or applications during the maintenance window to facilitate a smooth process.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we enhance the performance and reliability of our systems. If you have any urgent concerns, please contact our support team at [contact information].

Thank you for your cooperation,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

Service restored email template

Service restored email template
To
support@messagedesk.com
Service Restored

Dear [Recipient]

We are pleased to inform you that the previously reported service interruption has been resolved, and normal operations have been restored.

You can now resume your regular activities without any further disruptions. If you encounter any issues, please contact our support team at [contact information].

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this period.

Best,

[Your Name] [Your Organization]

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