Find who you're looking for, anytime, anywhere.

With mobile phones and other wireless devices becoming standard equipment for field journalists and with more journalists working exclusively in the field, the need for better communication between newsroom and on assignment journalists is growing.

ENPS 4.5 has a new feature called Follow-Me Messaging. It's a communication gateway that automatically connects the newsroom ENPS user with a journalist's wireless device.

Reporters or cameramen on assignment can now receive top-line text messages or updated assignments via their cell phone or PDA from the ENPS newsroom user. And the reporter can respond directly to that user. This is especially important when reporters can't talk on the phone, like in a hearing or courtroom. Follow-Me Messaging is another example of how ENPS 4.5 integrates newsroom tools to improve workflow. With this new feature, journalists no longer have to switch from ENPS to another text communication application to connect with their reporters.

How it works

Follow Me Messaging allows journalists to set preferences for automatic forwarding of top-line messages when they are out of the newsroom. Administrators or managers will enter one or more alternate email addresses for staffers, and the journalists will set the “out-of-office” times when the messages are to be forwarded to their field device.

If another user sends a top-line message to the journalist during that time and the person getting the message isn't logged in to ENPS, Follow-Me Messaging will forward the top-line message. What's more, journalists in the field will be able to respond, and ENPS will route the response back to the journalist who initially sent the top line.

In addition to providing top-line message forwarding, the Follow-Me Messaging allows news assignment editors to publish news assignments from the daily planner.

Editorial managers will flag certain assignment fields as staff-related -- reporter, photographer, live engineer for example -- and when the assignment editor publishes the assignment, top-line messages will be sent to anyone whose name appears in one of these fields. For any staffers who are not logged in to ENPS, the gateway will forward the message to their field device.