Be active assailant ready
Faster emergency communication, automated workflows, and coordinated response.
Protect people when every second counts
Deliver rapid alerts, improve situational awareness, and coordinate response in real time. Everbridge helps organizations quickly identify threats, communicate with impacted individuals, and orchestrate response efforts from a single platform—enabling faster decisions, improved safety outcomes, and greater operational resilience during active assailant incidents.
Rapid response
- Identifying potential threats before they escalate can be difficult without the right tools and data.
Communication
- During emergencies, quick and effective communication is crucial, ensuring that all employees are reached promptly.
Fast-paced situation
- Coordinating between various response teams can be complex, especially in larger organizations.
“The Everbridge tool has just made it easy for us to reach mass numbers of people, easily. An active shooter event locally, or an act of terrorism that could impact global travelers, or if it’s a weather-driven event or crisis, we feel confident that we can reach all of our employees in those situations and keep them out of harm’s way.”
Mark Terry, Director of Global Enterprise Security for Rackspace
Active assailant preparedness, alerting, and response solutions
Real-time threat monitoring & alerts
What it is: Monitors threats and sends real-time alerts.
Why it matters: Enables faster response and improved safety.
How Everbridge helps: Combines threat intelligence, monitoring, and automated alerts.
Multi-channel emergency communications
What it is: Sends emergency notifications across multiple channels.
Why it matters: Helps reach people wherever they are.
How Everbridge helps: Delivers alerts through 100+ communication channels.
Automated response workflows
What it is: Automatically triggers alerts and response actions.
Why it matters: Reduces manual effort during critical events.
How Everbridge helps: Uses automated workflows to accelerate response.
Centralized situational awareness
What it is: Provides a unified view of incidents and impacts.
Why it matters: Supports faster, more informed decisions.
How Everbridge helps: Delivers real-time visibility through Everbridge 360.
Resource & personnel accountability
What it is: Tracks people, assets, and critical resources.
Why it matters: Improves accountability and response coordination.
How Everbridge helps: Supports tracking, visibility, and real-time check-ins.
Analytics & preparedness improvement
What it is: Analyzes incidents to improve preparedness.
Why it matters: Helps identify gaps and strengthen plans.
How Everbridge helps: Provides reporting, analytics, and post-incident insights.
Faster critical event response
What it is: Speeds communication and incident coordination.
Why it matters: Reduces risk and operational disruption.
How Everbridge helps: Combines automation, AI insights, and incident management.
2024 Active assailant preparedness report
In the current dynamic threat landscape, the threat of an active assailant tops the list of potential threats security professionals say they must prepare for. Everbridge partnered with ASIS to survey around 700 security professionals to establish benchmark data on how the training, the tools, and the approach to active assailant preparedness has evolved.
Solution: A unified platform for active assailant response
Everbridge offers a comprehensive approach to protecting people in an emergency. Our High Velocity Critical Event Management™ platform, Everbridge 360, uses Purpose-built AI functionality to provide real-time updates and a 360-degree view of ongoing situations. This ensures rapid dissemination of critical information, enabling organizations to proactively manage threats and protect lives. This robust framework is designed to address the complexities of active assailant incidents effectively.
Rice University leverages Everbridge to foster a safer community
“We have a lot of foot traffic around our campus, and for students to feel as though they have a safe journey across campus at night… we will be using that system.”
How organizations use Everbridge during an active assailant event
Everbridge helps organizations detect and assess potential threats, activate predefined response plans, coordinate response efforts, and maintain accountability throughout an active assailant incident. By bringing critical information, response workflows, and personnel status into a single operational view, organizations can make informed decisions, protect impacted individuals, and continuously improve preparedness through post-incident analysis and planning.
Ready to raise the standard in executive protection?
Gain complimentary access to the ASIS and Everbridge report: Benchmarking Research on Risk-Based Approaches to Executive Protection.
This exclusive ASIS and Everbridge report reveals how risks are real and rising. With public threats escalating and high-profile attacks increasing, today’s leaders can’t afford outdated approaches. Executive Protection programs must move faster, think smarter, and anticipate more.
Outcome: Improved safety and operational resilience
Accelerate threat response with AI-powered risk intelligence that helps organizations identify potential risks earlier and act with confidence. With Everbridge, teams can improve visibility into evolving threats, coordinate response efforts more effectively, and strengthen personnel accountability during active assailant incidents. The result is faster decision-making, better protection for people, reduced operational disruption, and greater organizational resilience before, during, and after critical events.
- Faster response times with automated workflows
- Reach impacted people across 100+ communication channels
- Improve employee accountability
- Strengthen operational resilience during critical events
Active assailant preparedness checklist for organizations
This checklist offers a collection of strategic steps designed to enhance an organization’s readiness to face potential active assailant threats. By implementing these strategies, organizations can not only create safer environments but also build confidence in their prevention and preparedness frameworks, ensuring everyone is equipped to respond effectively in the event of an incident.
Crowded venue event preparedness guides for public & private sector
Major sporting events create dynamic conditions which drive real-time disruption across multiple sectors.
Explore two guides, one for public sector organizations and one for private sector leaders, to find out how to maintain continuity, protect people, and respond faster under pressure.
Industry solutions for an active assailant event
Education
Active assailant incidents severely disrupt educational environments, causing emotional trauma, fear, and long-term psychological effects. They also lead to heightened security measures, altered school routines, increased absenteeism, and strained resources.
Learn about essential strategies for maintaining campus safety in our eBook on ensuring campus safety. As civil unrest on campuses becomes more frequent, having robust strategies is crucial for protecting students, faculty, and staff. This comprehensive guide equips campus administrators with actionable insights and preparedness strategies.
Retail
Within retail environments, active shooter incidents are a growing concern due to the potential for mass casualties. Everbridge can offer real-time monitoring, multi-channel notifications, and efficient coordination. These features enhance safety by ensuring rapid communication and streamlined responses, protecting employees and customers during critical incidents.
Government
For governmental organizations, active shooter incidents underscore the importance of robust security measures, crisis management protocols, and coordinated response efforts to protect employees, citizens, and critical infrastructure. Everbridge solutions can enhance safety protocols and protecting government personnel and facilities during critical incidents.
Corporate
Active assailant incidents severely affect corporate organizations by endangering employee safety, causing operational disruptions, incurring financial losses, and damaging reputations. Implementing a robust suite of solutions from Everbridge can mitigate these impacts and safeguard both personnel and business continuity.
Supporting resources
Technology for active assailant preparedness
See how mass notification systems, AI-powered monitoring, and real-time communications help organizations protect people and improve response.
Workplace active assailant preparedness
Digital communication tools are essential to bridge the gap and ensure that all employees receive timely alerts and instructions during an emergency.
Active assailant preparedness: Risks & recommendations
Explore findings from a survey of 700+ security professionals and learn proven strategies, policies, and technologies for active assailant preparedness.
Actionable strategies to mitigate active assailant risk
Learn how to reduce active assailant risk with expert guidance on threat assessment, compliance, preparedness, and coordinated response.
Guide to active shooter drills in the workplace
Ensuring the safety and security of employees has become paramount in today’s unpredictable world. The tragic rise in active shooter incidents in the US serves as a stark reminder of the need for preparedness.
Interview with Mark Terry, Director of Global Enterprise Security at Rackspace
See why Rackspace uses Everbridge, integrated with InternationalSOS, NC4 and other systems, to launch immediate notifications to travelers and mobile employees.
8 Steps to building a corporate physical security strategy
A proactive approach to security risk management is essential for business continuity and workplace safety. Organizations require a clear, comprehensive strategy to address these challenges effectively.
Workplace safety: Protect against terrorism & active assailant threats
Watch as industry experts as they outline strategies to safeguard your organization and employees from modern-day risks.
Active shooter response plan for higher education
Advancements in technology can help keep educational institutions safe by integrating systems and automating processes through a single common operating picture.
Active assailant FAQs
What is an active assailant, and what does “active assailant preparedness” include?
An active assailant is an individual attempting to cause harm in a populated area, often in a fast-moving and unpredictable situation.
Active assailant preparedness includes the plans, tools, and processes organizations use to help protect people before, during, and after an incident. This can include emergency notifications, real-time threat monitoring, coordinated response workflows, situational awareness, employee safety check-ins, and collaboration with first responders.
What should organizations do in the first 5 minutes of an active shooter/active assailant incident?
In the first five minutes of an active shooter or active assailant incident, organizations should focus on rapidly protecting people and establishing clear communication. This includes sending immediate emergency alerts, sharing verified instructions such as lockdown or evacuation guidance, accounting for employee or student safety, and coordinating with security teams and first responders. Having predefined response plans and automated communication workflows can help reduce confusion, accelerate response times, and improve situational awareness during a rapidly evolving event.
How can we communicate with employees and first responders during an active assailant event?
Organizations can communicate during an active assailant event by using a mass notification and critical event management platform to send real-time alerts across multiple channels, including mobile, SMS, email, desktop, voice calls, and digital signage. These systems help deliver clear instructions, share situational updates, confirm employee safety, and coordinate response efforts with security teams and first responders. Centralized communication and real-time visibility can help reduce confusion and improve response coordination during rapidly evolving incidents.
How does Everbridge 360 detect, verify, and target alerts to only impacted people and locations?
Everbridge 360 combines AI-powered risk intelligence, geospatial awareness, and automated workflows to detect threats, verify incidents, and target notifications based on location, building, role, or threat proximity. This helps organizations avoid over-alerting unaffected populations while delivering faster, more relevant instructions to people directly at risk during a rapidly evolving event.
Which systems should integrate with an active assailant solution (access control, video, CAD/911, HRIS, SSO)?
An effective active assailant solution should integrate with key security, communications, and operational systems to improve response speed and coordination. Common integrations include access control systems, video surveillance and CCTV platforms, CAD/911 and public safety systems, HRIS and employee directories, visitor management tools, SSO and identity providers, collaboration platforms, and mass notification systems. These integrations help organizations automate workflows, improve situational awareness, target communications more accurately, and coordinate response efforts across teams and first responders during critical events.
How can we account for people and confirm safety in real time during an incident?
Organizations can use two-way notifications, mobile check-ins, location intelligence, and automated response workflows to account for people during an incident. Everbridge enables responders to request safety status updates, identify who may still be at risk, and maintain a real-time operational view of personnel accountability to support faster and more informed decision-making.
What training and drills are recommended for active assailant preparedness, and how often?
Organizations should conduct regular active assailant drills, tabletop exercises, communication tests, and emergency response training for employees, security teams, and leadership. Many organizations perform notification tests quarterly and run more comprehensive preparedness exercises annually or semiannually to reinforce procedures, improve coordination, and identify gaps before a real incident occurs.
How long does Everbridge implementation take, and what internal resources are required?
Implementation timelines vary based on organizational size, integrations, and deployment scope, but many organizations begin with phased rollouts focused on emergency communications and incident management. Internal participation typically includes security, IT, HR, facilities, and business continuity teams to support integrations, workflows, user provisioning, and preparedness planning.
