While the latest update to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) redefines mass notification as "emergency communications systems" (ECS), the end user community is formulating expectations related to the future functionality of today's alerting solutions. Numerous best practices have surfaced since alerting technology began its rapid, mainstream adoption, and the NFPA is looking to incorporate pressure tested protocols in the new code. The latest updates refer to "wide-area" and "distributed recipient notification" in addition to building notifications. Wide area is the geography surrounding a building on a particular campus and distributed recipient notification means expanded beyond the facility and the area, to be accomplished through means such as telephone calls, text messaging, and emails. A popular model that comprises the foundation of most mass notification systems currently deployed is a web-based, multi-modal offering residing completely outside of the IT infrastructure of a business or campus. This model is based on sound logic, considering continuity of operations planning, but many times the IT network on campus is one of the institution's greatest IT assets. It is common for CIOs to invest a large percentage of their overall budget into the infrastructure and often buildings are so "wired" that the degree of functionality end users are getting from their emergency communications systems is only a fraction of their capability. The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Experts agree that the right technology mix can act as a force multiplier in incident management. Well-constructed plans and highly capable individuals are twice as effective when given the correct tools to use during an emergency. Advances in technology are affording end users more options regarding a consolidated approach to critical communications, and incident management professionals are seeking scalable solutions that will make the most of past and future investments.