My experience in the public safety sector has taught me that the only thing you can expect every day on the job is the unexpected. From civil unrest to natural disasters, unexpected events occur daily with little or no warning. When unforeseen or unpredictable emergencies occur, security departments are often called upon to help mitigate the situation. This can cause a sudden and massive surge in demand for additional manpower. So how can a security operation rapidly fulfill excessive labor requirements while synchronously managing the crisis at hand?

Some security firms rely on a manual phone tree or text chain system to notify officers of emergencies. This is often a hierarchical communication model in which a manager or administrator calls or texts an individual or individuals. Subsequently, each person who is contacted is responsible for contacting others in the tree until everyone is informed.