Text message alerts have recently become a very popular topic amongst police departments.  Many police departments, including Northern Idaho, Washington D.C., and Minneapolis, have already implemented text message alerts in an effort to keep citizens informed about recent crimes, accidents, or emergency conditions.  These text message alerts can help citizens avoid areas that may quickly become congested, and therefore allow for emergency vehicles to respond in a speedier and more efficient manner.

TXT180.com has launched a new text message marketing campaign designed to assist police department and other emergency services Nationwide in providing their citizens with a message alert system that can reach thousands of residents with instant warnings of potential dangers.  This method has been tested, and found to be a very effective method, by many businesses, college campuses, and emergency services.  If you think about it, there is no other means of communication that can reach more people more quickly than by cellular phone.  Let’s face it; chances are people are not going to be near a TV, radio, or other type of alert system at the time they are near a recent crime, disaster, accident, road closure, or weather condition.  But, the chances of people having their cell phone with them, especially if travelling, is pretty significant. 

These are just a few ways in which police departments can use mobile text messaging:

• Recent Crime Alerts – By notifying citizens of recent crimes via text message people can avoid the area, quickly depart affected areas, or assist in locating suspects by calling 911.
• Accident Alerts – Allows commuters to select alternate routes, reducing the amount of backup traffic related to accidents. 
• Weather Alerts – Notify citizens of tornadoes, hurricanes, high winds, winter storms, etc…
• Road Closure Alerts – Provide drivers with road closure information due to weather, accidents, construction, etc.  You may also provide alternate route information.
• Disaster Alerts – Notifying residents of recent fires, rock/landslides, explosions, flooding, gas leaks, or natural disaster damage can help notify them of dangers, evacuations, and emergency services available.
• Road Conditions – Let drivers know ahead of time when their road conditions may be affected by snow, ice, rain, construction, or accidents.

There are more people carrying cell phones today than any other singular device.  And chances are if they receive a text message they are going to view it.  A cell phone user is much more likely to read a brief message via text than any other form of advertisement, including a billboard, newspaper, television, newspaper, or radio report.  They are also more likely to respond by avoiding an area, calling in tips, or changing their route than if contacted by any other method. 

In our recent research to find a reliable and cost effective SMS text message marketing provider we found that TXT180.com provides some of the best mobile marketing products and services available.  They offer 3 text marketing plans including a Value, Ultimate, and High Volume Enterprise Level plan.   A few of the features included in the three TXT180.com text marketing plans include:

Value Plan – $9.95/month

• 500 Outbound Messages/mo
• Unlimited Inbound Messages
• Unlimited Subscribers
• Phone & Email Support
• Easy to Use Control Panel

Ultimate Plan – $17.95/month

• 1000 Outbound Messages/mo
• Unlimited Inbound Messages
• Unlimited Subscribers
• Phone & Email Support
• Easy to Use Control Panel

Enterprise Accounts – Cost quoted on per need basis

• Dedicated Short Codes
• Integrated Software
• Unlimited Message Options
• Unlimited Subscribers
• Dedicated Account Manager

 If your department has not considered, or in the process of considering using a text message provider for emergency alerts, we would recommend you compare and consider TXT180.com in your top choices.  This could be as important in choosing the best police equipment for your officers!

TXT180.com