Save Up to 52% - The Georgia Retail Association (“GRA”) in partnership with Contact-911 is excited to offer CONTACT911TM – a Disaster Recovery / Emergency Communications Service that keeps Georgia businesses connected with its employees and keeps them connected to their friends and family members.

Hurricane Katrina destroyed thousands of businesses and homes and displaced millions of lives. In New Orleans alone there were over 100,000 small businesses that were devastated. The impact was so vast and devastating that hundreds of make-shift message boards and web sites were quickly built to help disconnected family members let loved ones know they were safe. Despite these attempts, many businesses went days and weeks without knowing if their employees and their family survived the catastrophic storm. Additionally, businesses had no way or plan of getting a hold of their employees. Over 50% of small businesses affected by such disasters never come back.

Your employees and co-workers are your business's most important and valuable asset. There are some procedures you can put in place before a disaster, but you should also learn about what people need to recover after a disaster. It is possible that your staff will need time to ensure the well-being of their family members, but getting back to work is important to the personal recovery of people who have experienced disasters. It is important to re-establish routines, when possible.

Two-way communication is central before, during and after a disaster.

o Include emergency preparedness information in newsletters, on company intranet, periodic employee emails and other internal communications tools.
o Consider setting up a telephone calling tree, a password-protected page on the company website, an email alert or a call-in voice recording to communicate with employees in an emergency.
o Designate an out-of-town phone number where employees can leave an "I'm Okay" message in a catastrophic disaster.
o Provide all co-workers with wallet cards detailing instructions on how to get company information in an emergency situation. Include telephone numbers or Internet passwords for easy reference.
o Maintain open communications where co-workers are free to bring questions and concerns to company leadership.
o Ensure you have established staff members who are responsible for communicating regularly to employees.
CONTACT911 TM does all this and more. CONTACT911TM stores lists of names, phone numbers and email addresses and relentlessly dials (and emails) every number, every contact until contact is made. Employees or family members can respond to messages and keep everyone connected. Additionally, CONTACT911TM works with landlines, cell phones, pagers, PDAs, instant message programs, etc.

CONTACT911TM is perfect for Employee Notification, Employee Benefit, Customer Loyalty, and Consumer Direct initiatives. Additional features of CONTACT911TM include:
* Service requires NO contract or monthly minimum.
* Bi-lingual capabilities.
* Temporary number setup if location has changed.
* Calling card feature included with each subscription.

To sign up, visit www.contact911.com and enter “GRA” as promo code to receive special pricing or contact us directly. Ask us about the other CONTACT911TM applications:

CONTACT-911, Inc.                                          Georgia Retail Association
William Lee                                                      John Heavener
813-477-8178                                                 770-484-3449
wlee@contact911.com                                      johnh@georgiaretail.org