Yo, Stomachmonkey...or anyone else who may have a solution...

[DonDavis]

...or you'll tell me it can't be done.

I'm a Field Engineer for GE Healthcare working on Nuclear Medicine systems, CT scanners and other diagnostic equipment.
One of my collateral duties is I'm the EHS Champ for Az and New Mex.
I distribute notices and assist our team with annual training and other safety stuff.

We have more than 40+ people throughout AZ and NM. All mobile, no physical office. We'll meet at restaurants and such. ( well, not during this time, but you get the idea )

About 3 years ago I began conducting an Emergency Preparedness drill about every 6 months or so.
At that time it was only AZ and my goal was to establish a quick method of reaching us all and get a response as fast as we can.

Many times we work solo, in various locations in a wide variety of conditions.
It's a mix of iPhones, Androids and probably a flip phone out there, too.
To make it more interesting, we use different carriers due to remote areas.

I would create a group text to everyone and the responses would come in fairly quickly.
Team grew, text recipients limited to 20, so I needed to create 2 Group Texts. Meh, not ideal, but it worked.

Earlier this year my role expanded to include NM. As mentioned above, I now have nearly 50 to contact.

Here's what I want to do...
Send the Alert to their phones and allow them to easily reply. Text is most commonly used method for us all.
I'd rather not do the group thing to eliminate everyone getting everyone's replies.
At first that was ok, because everyone would see everyone is ok. That was the goal.
I began this in metro Phx, and we're all friends.
But now, there's too many, and we do not actually know each other.

I'd like to send it via laptop, but I don't care if the replies come to my phone or laptop.
Email would be ok, receiving a text reply appears to be fastest.

What say the BrainTrust?

I singled out Scott, cuz he smart.

[masraum]

I'm sure there are other options for this sort of thing, but this is the first that I found with a quick search. We use something similar at work.
(this is not a recommendation for this particular service, just an example of what's available)
https://simpletexting.com/emergency-text-alert-system/

[Eric Coffey]

Group email, or maybe dedicated FB work group (w/ messenger)?

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by masraum

I'm sure there are other options for this sort of thing, but this is the first that I found with a quick search. We use something similar at work.
(this is not a recommendation for this particular service, just an example of what's available)
https://simpletexting.com/emergency-text-alert-system/

There has to be a no cost option to do this.

And yes, I've also performed similar searches and found nothing.

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Group email, or maybe dedicated FB work group (w/ messenger)?

Thanks for the input Eric...but no way in hell I'd require my team to use FB for anything, ever.

I'm kind of surprised at the lack of replies on this.
Figured it'd be a slam dunk for the BT...I reckon we've found it's limitations.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

Thanks for the input Eric...but no way in hell I'd require my team to use FB for anything, ever.

I totally hear you..It pained me to write that, lol... Just trying to think of alternatives but really, I think group email would/should be fine. Works fine for me, and countless others. Most folks have smart phones these days with push email capability and all manner of notifications. With an "all mobile, no physical office" job, it should be compulsory IMO, even if the hardware needs to be company-supplied.

[Eric Coffey]

Also, I believe most mobile carriers have "email to text" capability. For ATT, I know it's simply your 10-digit number @txt.att.net. Sometimes it needs to be enabled on the back end.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Also, I believe most mobile carriers have "email to text" capability. For ATT, I know it's simply your 10-digit number @txt.att.net. Sometimes it needs to be enabled on the back end.

Just tested it, worked for me on an ATT cellphone.

[flipper35]

There are a few apps out there for emergency services that automate those texts. We looked at an automated service that would contact everyone ICE.

[DonDavis]

Re Apps, are you guys referring to a specific one? Please share.