ETCOG funds Smart911 Emergency Mass Notification System

EAST TEXAS — East Texas Council Of Governments announces its Executive Committee approved the renewal of purchasing the Smart911 mass notification system as a part of its public safety program for the thirteenth consecutive year. This system allows ETCOG to partner with East Texas’ city and county emergency management coordinators to send messages quickly notifying citizens about emergencies such as: tornadoes and storm events, drinking water contamination, utility outages, evacuation notices and routes, missing persons, chemical spills or gas leaks and other emergency incidents where rapid and accurate notification is essential. ETCOG renewed its contract with Rave Mobile Safety to provide the Smart911 mass notification system services. Rave Mobile Safety offers unlimited minutes/texting, unlimited system users, and a new Weather Warning service that instantly and automatically alerts recipients based on weather in the area, including type of weather, location, and severity. It also allows the user to provide over 50 different language translations when deploying a notification and use this across several social media platforms.

“We are excited to continue our service with Rave Mobile Safety to offer Smart911 Alerts,” said ETCOG’s Public Safety Director, Stephanie Heffner. “The capacity to have unlimited minutes and users opens up the opportunity to partner with more jurisdictions in the region that may have not participated before. Also, we know many of our jurisdictions used to pay for weather warning services out of pocket, so we are happy to offer a cost-saving opportunity with this vendor.”

The system has been contracted for Anderson, Camp, Cherokee, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood counties, as well as Athens, Jacksonville, Marshall, Tyler, Wills Point, Rusk, Hideaway, and Longview cities. The new service agreement for FY 24 totaled $80,000, which ETCOG will fund through a Homeland Security grant.

The new service agreement for FY 24 totaled $80,000, which ETCOG will fund through a Homeland Security grant.

To sign up for Smart911 Alerts, click here.