During the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Twenty First Century Communications (TFCC),Columbus, Ohio, operated the national “1-877-Loved-1s” program for the American Red Cross. This hotline has helped to reunite nearly 40,000 family members and friends separated as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. TFCC handled more than 280,000 calls from displaced individuals in search of lost loved ones.

2005’s hurricane season was the most destructive and most costly season to date, including the highest number of named storms, the highest number of hurricanes, and the most category 5 storms ever recorded. The American Red Cross experienced an unprecedented demand for emergency assistance and the largest disaster response in its history.

TFCC was recognized by the Red Cross for its extraordinary support. In a December 19th letter to TwentyFirst Century CEO Jim Kennedy, Rick Davis, National Director of Emergency Communications for the Red Cross, praised TFCC, stating, “…your ability to anticipate our needs and have support ready at our beck and call was nothing short of uncanny. Your efforts in support of the Red Cross were of great significance and they had both a positive and abiding impact on our hundreds of thousands of customers.”

Davis went on to thank TFCC for its “extraordinary work in support of the totally new Family Linking service… to support the tens of thousands of Katrina victims who had been forced to evacuate to locations all over the nation. In what to us seemed like an impossible task…especially in light of the nationwide demand for call agents from every sector…you were able to stand up this service that helped thousands upon thousands of victims in an amazingly quick period of time…We admire the excellence that characterizes all that you take on and accomplish.”

Mr. Kennedy was invited to the National Headquarters of the American Red Cross to receive a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of Twenty First Century Communications. The award acknowledges TFCC’s“outstanding service in supporting the values and mission of the American Red Cross.” The Certificate goes on to praise TFCC’s “exemplary role in providing assistance to the Response Center Network,” and” loyalty and dedication as friends and colleagues of the Response Center Network.”

Twenty First Century Communications is the leader in “hosted” crisis communication services. Located in Columbus, Ohio, TFCC has more than 15 years experience in providing high volume call response and emergency notification services. Twenty First Century serves more than 90 clients with a client database representing more than 80 million contact records. TFCC processes more crisis calls than all other hosted crisis service companies combined. In 2005, Twenty First Century handled more than 33 million calls.

In the late 1990’s, TFCC pioneered the concept and refined the process which provides targeted emergency notification services to select groups or geographical areas. This system ultimately became known as the Universal Communications System (UCS), the system utilized to operate “1-877-Loved-1s.”The UCS system offers a superior emergency notification tool with the capacity, flexibility, and reliability essential for effective response during a major emergency.

Twenty First Century’s Federal clients include the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the General Services Administration, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Clients also include the 10 largest electrical utility companies in North America, and more than a dozen county EMAs(Emergency Management Agencies) throughout the U.S., including CRESA (Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency) in Vancouver, Washington, and the Washington, D.C. EMA.

Systems like UCS are gaining wider use by local governments to alert residents in the event of an emergency, threat, or crisis as well as to check on health and safety. Calls can be tailored to a specific street or set of blocks, as in the case of a hazardous waste spill, or to check on a particular population, like the well-being of senior citizens during extremely hot or cold weather. In addition to sending outbound emergency notification, the system also handles simultaneous inbound calls from hotlines, “get information” lines, and lines used to report damage.

TFCC representatives will be on hand at the National Hurricane Conference, April 10-14, 2006 in Orlando Florida to discuss UCS and other emergency communication tools available to both government and industry.