On Nov. 14, 2025, the University of Central Missouri announced it will transition from Textcaster to UCMAlerts, a new campus emergency notification system powered by Everbridge. University officials said the change is intended to improve the speed and reliability of emergency communications for students, faculty and staff.
“UCM Alerts uses Everbridge to send emergency communications to all UCM employees and students, things like campus closures, severe weather and other essential notifications,” said Nicole Lyons, Assistant Director of University Communications and Media Engagement. “Everbridge is a more modern system [and it] lets us send texts, emails and push notifications, and it keeps everything in one place.”
The new system can be used for a variety of purposes, from UCM Athletics sending game updates to the University Store announcing sales or discounts.
Along with a better set of campus notifications, Everbridge also has a few safety features that can be implemented by the campus. One of these features is a built-in SOS panic button that will notify the Department of Public Safety, prompting an emergency response.
“You could be anywhere and send that SOS, and we’re going to get it,” said Bill Brinkley, Director of Public Safety.
This feature uses your device’s geo-location to notify Public Safety that you are in need of assistance. If you are outside of Warrensburg and utilize this feature, Public Safety’s dispatch center will attempt to reach you by phone. If unsuccessful, they will coordinate with the closest police department in relation to the geo-location received to ensure you receive the help you need.
“The SOS system is very simple yet very useful when needed,” said Dawson Black, a sophomore and a musical theater major.
DPS is currently in the process of implementing a few other features that Everbridge’s mobile app supports. This includes two new features soon to be implemented for campus students, including a Check-in function and a Safety Corridor that will help locate students in the event of an emergency.
The Check-in function works similarly to how Apple’s check-in function works. It allows the user to set a destination that they are heading to and the app will estimate how long it should reasonably take that user to reach that destination, either by car or by foot. If the user fails to reach the destination in a reasonable amount of time or seems to be moving farther from the destination, the app will trigger an alert notifying DPS with their real time location for a swift response.
The Safety Corridor feature works as if leaving breadcrumbs while you’re moving. The app has you set a pin that will need to be entered at an interval of your choosing. If the user fails to enter their pin within the set time, an alert will be sent to DPS and they can start assisting based on where you last checked in.
