EOC ACTIVATIONS & CRISIS COMMUNICATION
CHALLENGE
Boone County needed a modern, secure, and
scalable solution for real-time coordination during
Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activations and
crisis communications-especially when engaging
dozens of partners across local, county, state,
federal, and university systems.
Legacy tools like email, phone trees, and text groups
weren’t built for multi-agency collaboration and left
critical gaps in continuity, access, and accountability.
SOLUTION
Boone County OEM led a county-wide initiative to
improve operational readiness and multi-agency
coordination. Leveraging grant funding, they secured
Bridge4PS licenses for all participating county,
city, and university partners, enabling a unified
communications environment for EOC activations
and public messaging.
STRATEGY
TWO STANDING CHANNELS WERE CREATED TO ANCHOR DAILY USE:
- Boone Co. MO EOC Activation
- Columbia/Boone County MO Crisis Communications
CREATED REUSABLE BRIDGE TEAMS TO STREAMLINE USER ACCESS DURING ACTIVATIONS:
- Boone JIC
- Boone County OEM
AGENCIES INVOLVED INCLUDE:
Boone Co OEM, Boone County Sheriff’s
Office, Boone Fire Protection District,
Columbia Police Dept, Columbia Fire
Dept, Ashland Police Dept, Mizzou
Police Dept, Centralia Police Dept, MO
Highway Patrol, Columbia Water &
Power, Boone Health, MU Health, US
VA, FEMA, Hallsville Schools, and others.
JURISDICTIONS/ ORGANIZATIONS
0
+
RESULTS
- OEM-led initiative funded through grants, removing budget barriers for local, county, and university agencies to adopt secure communications.
- 24/7 readiness for rapid activation across 15+ agencies and jurisdictions.
- Eliminated silos and manual communication chains-teams can now collaborate securely and instantly with full message history and role-based access.
- Improved interagency trust, coordination, and public communication in both emergency and planned scenarios.
- Standing EOC channels allow all stakeholders to be instantly notified for any EOC activation - planned or unplanned.
POINT-OF-CONTACT
- Chris Kelley
- Boone County OEM
- ckelley@boonecountymo.org
- 573-554-7900
- Bridge ID: @kelley.chris.boon-mo