Newsbeat, a real-time analytics tool for newsrooms, has launched in public beta.

The team behind analytics tool Chartbeat has “spent the last six months working with publishers from the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, to Fast Company and Time, to create a service that thinks the same way editors, producers, and content creators do – and gives them the tools they need to build a new kind of newsroom”, according to a post on Chartbeat’s blog.

Newsbeat promises great things for newsrooms.

When something unusual happens, like a spike in traffic, you’ll be immediately alerted by SMS or email and be in the best position to respond.

Chevrons denoting acceleration of new visitors to your pages also appear on the dashboard, giving you an early warning signal that a story is about to blow up, or is losing its heat.

One of the key features of newsbeat is the ability to create personalised dashboards for every person on your team. The sports editor no longer has to wade through data on politics and world news to find the data that’s important to her. She can log in and immediately see her traffic, her stories and her referrers.

But it comes with a high price tag of $199, $499 or $899 a month. There is a free 30 day trial on offer if you want to test it out. You will have to submit your details to the team and wait for the team to respond.

Here’s the Newsbeat video tour.

There’s also a helpful post on Poynter which picks out some of the most promising features.