Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mass Notification topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Richmond County to trial new mass-notification system for one year
Summary
After a presentation comparing CodeRed and Regroup, the board approved a one-year trial of Regroup's mass-notification platform to test additional features and potential cost savings before longer commitment.
Richmond County staff presented competing quotes for the county—s mass-notification service and recommended trying Regroup as a one-year trial.
Staff described limitations with the county—s current CodeRed service (multiple representative changes, limited account management and integration) and outlined Regroup—s features: multiple administrator roles, emergent and non-emergent messaging, GIS overlay support for targeted messaging (FEMA flood zones, polygons), and an integration path to migrate existing subscribers. Regroup offered a promotional price of $9,000 for four years (equivalent to $3,000 per year with a one-year free year as part of a four-year contract) and also allowed a one-year paid trial for roughly $3,000, according to the vendor quote placed in the meeting packet.
Board members asked about contract length, the ability to pilot for one year, frequency of county-originated messages and practical uses (missing-person alerts, election information, school notifications). Staff said a one-year trial is possible and that the vendor would import existing subscribers from CodeRed with back-end work. One supervisor moved that the county try Regroup for one year; the motion carried with the board voting in favor.
The trial authorizes staff to proceed with the one-year contract and to have the vendor work with CodeRed to migrate subscriber data; the board asked for continued oversight and further technical validation before any longer-term commitment.
