Gladewater, Texas Uses Genasys Protect to Support Everyday Public Communications
Gladewater is a small East Texas city with a population of 6,134. Serving a close-knit community, city leaders needed a reliable way to keep residents informed about emergencies and everyday city issues. In 2022, the city moved to Genasys to modernize its public alerting program and strengthen resident communications.
Problem
The city needed more control over resident contact information and a better way to deliver targeted alerts. For Gladewater, public communication was not limited to major emergencies. Routine issues like utility disruptions and weather-related updates also required timely, relevant outreach.
Solution
Gladewater adopted Genasys as its alerting platform and encouraged residents to register for alerts. The system supports communication across multiple channels including phone, email, SMS, app-based alerts, and more targeted outreach based on resident signup information. City leadership uses it to target communications based on location or contact grouping. They describe it as Gladewater’s primary notification system for sending one message across multiple channels. Residents signing up are also able to choose their preferred alert types.
“The idea to be totally prepared is to have all those layers of notification in place and pay attention… to be able to type one message and send it to everybody through multiple options… In any kind of alerting system or program, there’s several components. Number one is the individual themselves. You always need to be prepared, have a plan and pay attention.” – Mike Simmons, Gladewater Fire Chief
Results
Today, Gladewater uses Genasys for everyday public communications as well as urgent alerts. Residents receive updates about events that could disrupt daily life or threaten public safety, including water-related service disruptions, boil water notices, and emergency alert tests. With multiple delivery channels available, city officials can share information through the methods residents are most likely to see. Residents can also choose the alert types they want to receive, which helps keep communications relevant and useful. As a result, Gladewater community members now have access to a single source of trusted information and updates to improve their quality of life and safety levels.
Additionally, regular use for day-to-day communications helps users build familiarity with the system and improve effectiveness, which increases preparedness levels for future emergencies. Simultaneously, residents are better prepared to recognize and respond to alerts when urgent situations occur.
