As the COVID-19 crisis shifts and continues around the country, municipalities are finding communicating with their communities — from employees working remotely to citizens needing information — as essential as ever.
Mass notification for emergencies, including building closures and impending storms or neighborhood evacuations, is a clear need for cities, towns and schools today.
As essential businesses and other services start to open around the world, day-to-day communication with employees on re-opening and safety protocols is also a high priority.
Regroup Mass Notification works with municipal clients internationally to help them with emergencies including weather events and pandemic preparedness, as well as important information that keeps governments effective and their constituents safe.
Through easy-to-use templates, customizable messages and fully scalable service, Regroup can help municipalities reach every stakeholder on every device through SMS/text, phone, email and much more.
(See why Regroup’s award-winning platform is the top choice for emergency and day-to-day notifications for universities, hospitals, corporations, and venues across North America and worldwide. Courtesy of Regroup Mass Notification and YouTube.)
The company is recognized by FEMA as being one of the nation’s few Alert Originators that have successfully demonstrated their system’s IPAWS capabilities, so the system also give you the power to reach citizens in a variety of highly public ways, even without having their contact information on file.
Regroup Mass Notification, the Platinum Award Winner for Best Mass Notification Solution in the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, recently nominated to compete in the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program, is the provider of choice for city, state and local government entities across the United States.
The company’s system provide the features they need most to serve the needs of citizens and keep entire communities safe and informed:
Near-instant communication.
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Unlike manual calling or texting emergency alerts, Regroup can send important information to hundreds of thousands of recipients in seconds.
Efficient.
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Municipalities can avoid spending money on costly hardware that needs maintenance. Regroup’s cloud-based system and 24/7 support is all government agencies need to reach everyone, regardless of where they are.
Automated alerts.
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Regroup offers built-in automation for severe weather and other federal alerts from FEMA’s IPAWS, NOAA, and more.
Some recent success stories from around the United States include:
ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO
As one of the largest counties in the state of Colorado, Adams County uses Regroup Mass Notification for weather warnings, including tornadoes, as well as office closures and pertinent information regarding large events like it’s Fourth of July celebration.
Municipal leaders also wanted to be able to warn employees and the cities and towns Adams County serves in case there is an active shooter event.
How does Adams County make the most of its Regroup Mass Notification system?
With emergency notifications, day-to-day communication and preparing for potential dangerous situations.
Other options, such as emails, phone trees, and social media posts, are not as far-reaching nor as efficient as the Regroup platform.
Recent uses Adams County has employed:
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Notification and activation of the emergency services’ CADRE (Collaborating Agencies’ Disaster Relief Effort)
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Informing employees of building closures and delays
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Special notifications to specific groups, such as arranging conference calls with affected teams prior to a building closure
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Special event registration and notification
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Building specific emergency message templates, for example in the event of an active-shooter situation within a certain facility
“The system is extremely easy to use. We are surprised at how easy it is to train new employees to use the system.
Regroup is user-friendly, straightforward, and is a common sense platform,” says Michael Bean, the Emergency Management Coordinator for Adams County, Colorado.
TOWN OF BELHAVEN, NORTH CAROLINA
This small town in North Carolina needed an easy, fast way to inform community members about hurricanes and the subsequent flooding they can cause.
The town uses Regroup and its partner CivicReady to send out life-saving warnings and information about hurricanes, including Hurricane Florence, and Hurricane Dorian.
While hurricanes make for eye-catching headlines, there are so many needed notifications that are necessary even after the storms and water subside.
The town uses Regroup to help people get back to normal: Informing people when municipal services will be back on track, and helping residents navigate the complexities of trash pickup after a major storm.
More day-to-day uses that the town uses Regroup for:
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Notifying the public about important town meetings
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Evacuation orders in case of emergencies
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Town-sponsored recreational sports announcements
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
The City and County of San Francisco’s Fire Department uses Regroup Mass Notification to leverage a powerful and passionate group of citizens interested in neighborhood responses to emergencies.
The fire department’s Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) has trained tens of thousands of local volunteers on emergency response and community involvement.
The diverse neighborhoods needed a way to communicate with this huge network of neighbors, and also a way to customize specific messages for each neighborhood team.
The NERT program’s core mission is training volunteers for an emergency response in case of disaster — weather-related, environmental, geographic or man-made.
It uses mass notification to text alerts to the mobile devices of volunteers during an emergency.
It also sends an associated email that includes details about the emergency and how to respond.
(NERT is a free training program for individuals, neighborhood groups and community-based organizations in San Francisco. Through this program, individuals will learn the basics of personal preparedness and prevention. The training also includes hands-on disaster skills that will help individuals respond to a personal emergency as well as act as members of a neighborhood response team. Courtesy of SFFD NERT.)
More than 25,000 residents have been trained by the NERT program to date, learning how to help their neighbors to be self-reliant during and after a major disaster, from earthquakes to wildfires.
It adds around 1,000 new volunteers a year in 50 different neighborhoods.
The program is city and county-wide, and also includes sub-groups divided by distinct neighborhoods.
The fact that a single fire department, even one so large as the San Francisco Fire Department, is able to leverage the power of thousands of local resident volunteers is inspiring.
It takes a robust communications network to keep everyone informed.
The NERT program uses Regroup to keep the entire organization informed about necessary information from the fire department’s program office.
With unlimited admins at no extra cost from Regroup, the individual neighborhood groups are also able to customize their messaging to engage their volunteers.
Can your government agency, volunteer organization or public-private partnership benefit from an easy-to-use mass notification platform for day-to-day communication and emergency alerts?
Regroup’s team can give you a customized demo of how we can serve you.
Regroup Mass Notification Returns to Compete in Fourth ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program
The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.
The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program highlighting the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today, to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition, and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.
American Security Today is pleased to announce that Deann Criswell, the NYC Emergency Management Commissioner will deliver the keynote address at the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon Banquet in New York City.
90% of ‘ASTORS’ Award Winners return to compete in the Annual ‘ASTORS‘ Homeland Security Awards Program, and 100% of ‘ASTORS’ Sponsors have returned year to year to reap the benefits of their participation in the industry’s largest and most comprehensive Annual Awards Program.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards at https://americansecuritytoday.com/ast-awards/.
Comprehensive List of Categories Include:
| Access Control/ Identification | Personal/Protective Equipment | Law Enforcement Counter Terrorism |
| Perimeter Barrier/ Deterrent System | Interagency Interdiction Operation | Cloud Computing/Storage Solution |
| Facial/IRIS Recognition | Body Worn Video Product | Cyber Security |
| Video Surveillance/VMS | Mobile Technology | Anti-Malware |
| Audio Analytics | Disaster Preparedness | ID Management |
| Thermal/Infrared Camera | Mass Notification System | Fire & Safety |
| Metal/Weapon Detection | Rescue Operations | Critical Infrastructure |
| License Plate Recognition | Detection Products | And Many Others! |
Don’t see a Direct Hit for your Product, Agency or Organization?
With the unprecedented occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of the safety and security industries has realized the need to increase innovations to address the daily growing challenges.
As such AST aims to make sure these firms and professionals are reflected in the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program, so we’d like to encourage you to submit appropriate categories recommendations and include COVID-19 Frontline Professionals in your Nominations to see that these Professionals, Facilities, and Vendors receive the Recognition they Deserve!
Submit your category recommendation for consideration to Michael Madsen, AST Publisher at: mmadsen@americansecuritytoday.com.
The 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program surpassed expectations with a record number of nominations received from industry leaders and government agencies, and drew over 200 attendees to the ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Banquet – an exclusive gourmet luncheon and networking opportunity which filled to capacity, before having to turn away late registrants.
The event featured an impassioned and compelling keynote address by William J. Bratton, former police commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) twice, the Boston Police Department (BPD), and former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), as he walked attendees through 50 years of American policing history, the impacts on the communities, and the evolution of critical communication capabilities in our post 9/11 landscape.
Commissioner Bratton, one of the world’s most respected and trusted experts on risk and security issues and Executive Chairman of Teneo Risk a global advisory firm, was recognized as the ‘2019 ‘ASTORS’ Person of the Year’ for his Lifetime of Dedication and Extraordinary Leadership in Homeland Security and Public Safety.
Why the ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program?
American Security Today’s comprehensive Annual Homeland Security Awards Program is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of physical, IT, port security, law enforcement, and first responders, in acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’
Over 200 distinguished guests representing Federal, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:
- The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- United States Marine Corps
- The Federal Protective Service (FPS)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
- United States Postal Inspection Service
- DHS S&T
- United States Marshals Service (USMS)
- The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police (PAPD)
- The Department of Justice (DOJ)
- The New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (NYS DHSES)
- United States Border Patrol
- AlertMedia, Ameristar Perimeter Security, Attivo Networks, Automatic Systems, Bellevue University, BriefCam, Canon U.S.A., CornellCookson, Drone Aviation, FLIR Systems, Hanwha Techwin, HID Global, IPVideo Corp., Konica Minolta Business Solutions, LenelS2, ManTech, Regroup Mass Notifications, SafeLogic, SolarWinds, Senstar, ShotSpotter, Smiths Detection, TCOM LP, Trackforce, Verint, and More!
From innovative Military Cyber Programs, to Local, State and Federal Public Safety and Emergency Management Initiatives, New Physical and IT Products and Services, and Security Professional, Threat Assessment, Emergency Preparedness, Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Education and Training Opportunities – Join your ‘ASTORS’ Award-Winning Peers and Receive the Recognition You Deserve!
Excellence in Public Safety and Government Security Award Nominations are also encouraged, such as those 2019 Honored Winners which includes the DEA, U.S. Marine Corps, DHS S&T, Federal Protective Service, DHS S&T NUSTL, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Border Patrol, The Port Authority of NY/NJ, and the NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services.
Individuals are also encouraged to be nominated for Government Excellence in Public Safety and Homeland Security such as last years widely respected recipients.
Why American Security Today?
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
American Security Today is uniquely focused on the broader Homeland Security & Public Safety marketplace with over 75,000 readers at the Federal, State and local levels of government as well as firms allied to government.
American Security Today brings forward a fresh compelling look and read with our customized digital publications that hold readers eyes throughout the story with cutting edge editorial that provides solutions to their challenges.
Harness the Power of the Web – with our 100% Mobile Friendly Publications
The AST Digital Publications is distributed to over 75,000 qualified government and homeland security professionals in federal, state and local levels.
‘PROTECTING OUR NATION, ONE CITY AT A TIME’
AST Reaches both Private & Public Experts, essential to meeting these new challenges.
Today’s new generation of public safety and security experts need real-time knowledge to deal with domestic and international terrorism, lone wolf attacks, unprecedented urban violence, shifts in society, culture and media bias – making it increasingly difficult for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Military and Private Security Professionals to implement coordinated security measures to ensure national security and improve public safety.
These experts are from Government at the federal, state and local level as well as from private firms allied to government.
AST provides a full plate of topics in our AST Monthly Magazine Editions, AST Website and AST Daily News Alerts, covering 23 Vital Sectors such as Access Control, Perimeter Protection, Video Surveillance/Analytics, Airport Security, Border Security, CBRNE Detection, Border Security, Ports, Cybersecurity, Networking Security, Encryption, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Campus Security, Security Services, Corporate Facilities, and Emergency Response among others.
AST has Expanded readership into integral Critical Infrastructure audiences such as Protection of Nuclear Facilities, Water Plants & Dams, Bridges & Tunnels, and other potential targets of terrorism.
Other areas of concern include Transportation Hubs, Public Assemblies, Government Facilities, Sporting & Concert Stadiums, our Nation’s Schools & Universities, and Commercial Business Destinations – all enticing targets due to the large number of persons and resources clustered together.
To learn more about the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Award Winners solutions, please go to the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Championship Edition Fully Interactive Magazine – the Best Products of 2019 ‘A Year in Review’.
The ‘ASTORS’ Champion Edition is published annually and includes a review of the ‘ASTORS’ Award Winning products and programs, highlighting key details on many of the winning firms products and services, includes video interviews and more.
It is your Go-To source throughout the year for ‘The Best of 2019 Products and Services‘ endorsed by American Security Today, and can satisfy your agency’s and organization’s most pressing Homeland Security and Public Safety needs.
From Physical Security (Access Control, Critical Infrastructure, Perimeter Protection and Video Surveillance Cameras and Video Management Systems), to IT Security (Cybersecurity, Encryption, Data Storage, Anti-Malware and Networking Security – Just to name a few), the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ CHAMPIONS EDITION will have what you need to Detect, Delay, Respond to, and Mitgate today’s real-time threats in our constantly evolving security landscape.
It also includes featured guest editorial pieces from some of the security industry’s most respected leaders, and recognized firms in the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program.
Regroup Takes Platinum in the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program
Regroup Mass Notification
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Best Mass Notification Solution
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Regroup Mass Notification
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Regroup’s cloud-based emergency notification platform was designed to be one of the most robust and reliable in the industry, providing users the tools needed to save lives, property and continuity of business, plus allows instant alerting to large groups of recipients when a crisis occurs.
(Hear from customers how Regroup Mass Notification has helped them with their Every Day communication systems. Courtesy of Regroup Mass Notification and YouTube.)
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*Regroup Mass Notification was also recognized with Multiple Award Wins in both the 2018 and 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Programs respectively.
For more information about advertising opportunities with American Security Today, please contact Michael Madsen, AST Publisher at mmadsen@americansecuritytoday.com.
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- Provides named sources
- Reported by more than one notable outlet
- Includes supporting video, direct statements, or photos
