The school/program year is fast approaching – which means that winter isn’t far behind. Remember last year’s sudden Sunday morning icing event? Does your church have a plan for notifying members in case of foul weather schedule changes or other emergencies?

The tried-and-true phone chain still works but can be labor intensive. And as calls branch there are multiple points of failure. Website announcements, Facebook posts or group texts may reach some people, but not others.

Fortunately there are services that can automate phone and text notifications to make them quick and reliable. Two of these services are Call-Em-All.com and CallMultiplier.com. Both appear as of this writing to offer packages that allow churches to purchase credits for calls rather than ongoing contracts, which I think is important for churches, especially smaller ones. There are others, as a web search for “automated calling and texting” reveals, although some are more suited for large organizations.

• Read the full article on ministrylink.org