Situation
The City of San Diego manages a complex public safety environment that includes dense urban neighborhoods, coastal communities, and regions vulnerable to hazards such as wildfires, coastal emergencies, and community-wide issues, e.g., gas leaks. Public safety leaders must be prepared to communicate quickly with residents, coordinate across agencies, and guide evacuation decisions when incidents occur.
For many years, the city relied on legacy mass notification systems that supported community alerting but lacked the operational efficiency required for modern emergency communications. Public safety teams increasingly needed tools that could support both high risk incidents and routine operational readiness.
City officials began evaluating alternatives to ensure their emergency communications platform could meet evolving public safety needs. This transition was not triggered by a major disaster. Instead, it was an intentional and carefully planned modernization effort designed to improve reliability, operational efficiency, and preparedness.
Officials sought a system that would allow them to support public safety, manage community alerting, and strengthen protective communications during both daily operations and emergency response.
Problem
San Diego’s previous mass notification system presented operational limitations that affected both preparedness and incident response.
One key challenge involved population estimation during an incident. Public safety leaders needed to quickly understand how many residents could be affected by an evacuation or alert zone. Previously, this process required a complex ArcGIS workflow that involved multiple steps and a formal standard operating procedure. The process could be slow and cumbersome during time sensitive incidents.
The city also needed better tools to support operational preparedness. Staff members regularly maintain accounts, update messaging templates, manage maps, and ensure accurate data across emergency communication platforms. Their previous system made these activities more difficult and time consuming.
Solution
The City of San Diego transitioned to Genasys Protect, a platform designed to support protective communications, evacuation planning, and coordinated emergency communications.
Today, San Diego uses Genasys Protect for both daily preparedness activities and active incident response.
During daily operations, public safety personnel use the platform to:
- Create and maintain user accounts
- Update pre-approved message templates
- Verify mapping data and geographic zones
- Conduct mitigation and preparedness planning
- Ensure the system is ready for rapid activation
Templates have become one of the most heavily used features. Pre-approved language allows staff to issue alerts quickly and consistently during time-sensitive situations. Another critical capability is the platform’s population estimation feature. When an incident occurs, emergency managers immediately open Genasys Protect to view population estimates within affected zones. This information helps leadership understand the potential scale of an incident and supports faster evacuation planning decisions.
Results
San Diego continues to recognize meaningful improvements in operational readiness and emergency communications.
- Faster population impact assessments – Population estimates are now available instantly within Genasys Protect.
- Improved preparedness and operational readiness – By maintaining templates, maps, and system data within a single platform, San Diego’s public safety teams are better prepared to respond to incidents with speed and consistency.
- More efficient emergency communications – Templates and streamlined workflows allow agencies to deliver clear, consistent alerts during localized incidents such as gas leaks and wildfire advisories.
- Greater confidence in system reliability – By transitioning away from their previous vendor, the city implemented a more dependable platform designed specifically for modern emergency communications and protective communications.
Today, the City of San Diego uses Genasys Protect as a foundational tool for both preparedness and response, helping public safety agencies communicate more effectively with leadership, partner agencies, and the communities they serve.
