Since 1989 Columbus based Twenty First Century Communications (TFCC) has been providing calling handling solutions to colleges, government agencies, public safety entities, utilities, and other organizations. In 2000 TFCC developed the Universal Communication System (UCS) to handle the emergency notification needs of these organizations.

UCS was installed in 2004 by the city of Columbus, the Ohio State University and the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency.  After installing UCS, the county performed a test of the system, successfully calling over 38,000 residents in a 15 minute period (for more information, see http://www.tfcci.com/page9786.cfm).

During the 2006 summer heat waves, the system was used to contact senior citizens, providing safety tips and resources. Recently, UCS was used to notify citizens to stay inside during a hostage crisis in Hilliard, Ohio.  A Kentucky municipality used UCS to assist in successfully recovering a missing child in 20 minutes. A New York utility used the system to notify over 10,000 critical care customers regarding power outages and a Florida utility called its 69,000 residential customers to warn them of fraud attempts. If necessary, The Ohio State University can notify 50,000 students in a matter of minutes.

Campus Connection, powered by UCS, is an alerting module designed specifically for colleges and universities. The system provides targeted messaging with an unlimited number of possible scenarios, messages, recipients, and groups. Also, Geocoded Mapping can be used to designate notification areas on a web-based map. The system will identify the residents and businesses in that area, generate phone numbers, and deliver notifications or instructions. Messages can be pre-recorded for later use, created on the fly, and/or modified as the situation unfolds.

Campus Connection can incorporate all methods of alerting – including text messaging, land line phone, cell phone, fax, e-mail, and pager. With TFCC's system, there is no equipment or software to buy, install, or maintain. Included in both Campus Connection and UCS is a special "opt-in" sign up webpage that can be utilized to ensure that organizations have the cell phone and unlisted numbers of their constituents.  Citizens of Franklin County can sign up their cell phone and unlisted phone numbers at http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/emahs/.

TFCC's system has the functionality to handle inbound and outbound calls simultaneously allowing organizations to perform outbound alerts while keeping inbound lines open and available.  Campus Connection can also be used for non-emergency communications, faculty and staff notification, inbound hotlines, local law enforcement coordination and media relations.

"TFCC has provided crisis notification services to private companies and government agencies for over a decade. It is a sign of the times that colleges must now be prepared to handle events such as that of Virginia Tech on their campuses," says James Kennedy, President of Twenty First Century Communications.

Twenty First Century Communications is a national leader in vendor-hosted communication services, providing a variety of customized, remotely run notification services using the industry's largest, most reliable telecommunications network. Based in Columbus, Ohio Twenty First Century Communications is a privately held corporation founded in 1989.