Everbridge, a specialist in critical event management (CEM) and national public warning software solutions, has announced that the State of New Jersey expanded its use of the company’s public safety solutions to communicate with residents across the state in times of emergency.
The New Jersey State Police added Everbridge’s Resident Connection and Integrated Public Alert & Warning System IPAWS solutions to maximize the reach of their critical citizen alerts, allowing public safety officials to reach the state’s nine million residents in the event of a crisis such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the costliest and most devastating storm to impact New Jersey. As learned during Sandy, and subsequent severe weather events that affected the Garden State, a critical part of any crisis response is the ability to share accurate information in a timely manner to the right population.
Resident Connection enables Everbridge customers to target potentially life-saving communications to impacted areas by simply drawing geo-fenced shapes on a map, allowing local, county, and state government leaders to quickly and accurately reach the largest number of people in those zones. Recipients may include the most vulnerable and often underserved populations, such as residents with special needs; dependence on supplemental oxygen or medications; cognitive, visual, or hearing impairment; and those lacking Internet access.
Additionally, through Everbridge, New Jersey State Police is now able to access FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), which utilizes several communication pathways to reach the public, including: the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to deliver alerts via AM, FM and satellite radio, as well as broadcast, cable and satellite TV; Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to deliver notifications to cell phones and mobile devices based on location, even if cellular networks are overloaded and can no longer support calls, text and emails; and integration with voice sirens, digital road signs, and emergency telephone networks.
