You're reading an older article from ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. Some content, such as code-related information, may be outdated. Visit our homepage to view the most up-to-date articles.
Urgent warnings from Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Department of Public Safety will now be delivered with the assistance of their new partner, GroupCast. The GroupCast system allows state officials to send thousands of recorded messages statewide within minutes through the Missouri Disaster Responder Notification System.
SEMA has successfully tested the system to more than 1,300 contacts. After each message is sent, a detailed report is delivered to SEMA stating which contacts answered, the number of voicemails left and which numbers failed.
The messages can be broken down and sent by region, county or discipline of the official. The system will be used in times of disasters or emergencies to alert specific state agencies.
“We are extremely excited about the potential of the system to give early warning to our local partners, aiding in quick response,” said Ronald Reynolds, director for SEMA. “We’re able to quickly verify those partners who were unable to be contacted. This is a huge milestone for the state.”
“SEMA is a vital part of this state’s operations,” said Paul Langhorst, GroupCast vice president of operations. “We truly appreciate the work they do day in and day out and are pleased to assist with their responsibility in any way we can.”
