At approximately 4:45 a.m. on April 20, 2023, many Floridians were awakened by a startling message on their mobile phones. The Emergency Alert System had gone off, but it was only a test, and no action was necessary. The Florida Division of Emergency Management soon issued an apology for the erroneous alert and pledged to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Governor Ron DeSantis demanded swift accountability and announced the end of the state’s contract with Everbridge. This company provided the coding and instructions for the false notification, and the Governor sought to ensure that future alerts would only be sent in real emergencies and not disturb residents in the middle of the night.
However, Everbridge was the backbone of many notification systems in Florida, including Alert Pinellas, and as the hurricane season approached, it became clear that the state needed a reliable vendor for emergency communications. Therefore, the Florida Department of Emergency Management decided to renew the terminated contract with Everbridge, modifying the end date to December 31, 2023, and adding an option for a six-month renewal until June 30, 2024 (the original length of the contract). The value of the contract for the additional six months was $1.75 million.
Although some criticized the decision to extend the Everbridge contract despite the false alarm, Florida officials felt that they needed a dependable partner to keep residents informed and safe in times of crisis. The amendment to the contract seemed to represent a compromise between accountability and practicality.
Disclosure: This article’s author owns shares of Everbridge