AlertMedia, founded in 2013, is changing the way organizations communicate during emergencies by enabling businesses to reach employees during critical events by promoting simultaneous notifications over multiple channels. Their software provides relevant, precise, and up-to-date information while rapidly identifying emerging threats to their distributed workforce based on each employee’s current location using AlertMedia’s Global Threat Intelligence.

AlertMedia is part of the Austin Chamber network of A-LIST companies, having won three times; the 2018 Mid-Size company award, the 2020 51-199 Employees award, and the Late Stage award in 2021.

The company continues to achieve rapid growth, having hired more than 200 employees in 2022 alone, an 80% expansion of their workforce YoY and recently it announced the opening of its new, 70,000 square-foot headquarters at RiverSouth, occupying the top two floors of the state-of-the-art, 15-story building positioned between South First Street and South Congress Avenue, recently dubbed the “smartest” office building in Texas. The space boasts numerous smart and environmentally friendly features, hotel-style amenities, and stunning panoramic views of Lady Bird Lake, Town Lake Metropolitan Park, and the Downtown Austin Skyline.

Can you discuss AlertMedia’s recent growth and why now is the right time for the new office opening?

As a threat intelligence and emergency communication provider, everything we do is in support of helping customers proactively navigate critical events, whether it’s public health emergencies such as the pandemic, severe weather events, active shooter scenarios, or any number of other crises. The company experienced healthy growth every year since 2013, when AlertMedia was founded, through the beginning of 2020. However, in March 2020 we had begun to see a material acceleration in adoption as a large percentage of organizations revisited their emergency response plans once it became clear we would be living with the pandemic for the foreseeable future.

Since then, our business has doubled, with hiring growth at approximately the same rate. Due to our growth over the past 18-24 months, we knew we needed a new space to accommodate both our Austin-based team as well as new remote employees, whom we wanted to have space for during visits or larger company celebrations. The new office represents the next phase of our growing company, our commitment to the local Austin community, and our commitment to the long-term health, well-being, and growth of our employees.

How does the new space align with modern workplace trends?

Office workers have grown accustomed to the easy accessibility of a relaxed, quiet workspace or the ability to quickly relocate to a more open, collaborative, and social environment such as a coffee shop if that’s the environment they’d choose for the day. The past two years have highlighted varying work preferences, in terms of ideal hours as well as location and environmental preferences.

When we set out to design our new space, we wanted to create a space that provides this type of flexibility, enables easy collaboration, and offers some of the same work-life conveniences we’d all grown accustomed to when working from home. Specifically, we’ve designed our new headquarters with the intention of making it easy for employees to work from the office temporarily, part- or full-time, with a wide range of bookable desks, quiet spaces, and collaborative areas for individuals or larger teams.

Can you discuss the company’s vision for how the space will be used?

AlertMedia is proud to be part of the Austin community, and we’re excited about how our new offices will allow us to play an even more active role, both as a local employer and partner to like-minded organizations. Some of the ways we intend to use our new space include hosting community events with our philanthropic partners as well as hosting industry meetups, workshops, and events for our customers and other organizations that want to learn more about crisis communication, emergency preparedness, and more. Our HQ will also serve as a destination to host company-wide celebrations for both our Austin-based employees and remote team members.

In addition to the tremendous growth AlertMedia is experiencing, you’re also hosting an Inaugural Employee Safety Conference next month (Oct 26-28). Tell us a bit more about this event and what it means for your company.

We are thrilled to host our inaugural customer conference this October, which is something we’ve dreamed about doing for a number of years. The event will consist of 2+ days of in-depth networking and professional development with some of the world’s foremost authorities on employee safety, security, and business resilience sharing their tips, best practices, and advice.

We believe everyone deserves to work where their safety and well-being is a priority, so we’re excited to bring together an amazing group of safety and security professionals from across the industry so they can network, exchange ideas, and learn from one another.

What else is on the horizon for AlertMedia?

Our mission is to help organizations keep their people and businesses safe. Everything we do is in support of that goal and inspired by our belief that every employee—regardless of industry or location—has the right to work in a safe environment where their well-being is a priority.

Within the foreseeable future, AlertMedia will continue to expand its presence throughout North America with the goal to expand internationally as well. Over the next five years, we’ll continue to enter new markets faster and reach even greater scale—all while establishing a new industry standard when it comes to access to threat intelligence and innovative emergency communication technology.

What support systems does Austin offer that have helped AlertMedia be successful?

When it comes to business growth, Austin continues to be one of the top talent markets in the country, particularly for tech companies. While our employees are spread across the U.S. (and beyond), Austin’s appeal as one of the country’s top places to live and work has certainly played a role in helping us hire our immensely talented team.