2025 State of Emergency Response: The Cost of Delayed Emergency Notifications on Enterprise Security & Safety
Introduction
In emergencies, every second counts, yet many organizations still rely on outdated, manual processes to activate standard operating procedures (SOPs). These methods—such as phone calls or messages to operations centers—introduce delays, miscommunication, and inefficiencies, especially in high-stakes situations. Corporate security leaders face additional challenges managing multiple communication streams, leading to bottlenecks, incomplete updates, and eroded trust among stakeholders.
Industries like retail, manufacturing, and transportation are particularly vulnerable, with risks such as delayed evacuations, operational downtime, and financial losses escalating into safety concerns for employees and customers. These inefficiencies disrupt operations, hinder coordination with law enforcement, and expose organizations to significant risks.
300 corporate security and safety leaders reveal the most pressing challenges with emergency notifications and the trends shaping response outcomes in 2025.
Key Findings from the Report
49% of teams report frequent delays in emergency SOPs due to late notifications
Nearly half of respondents (49%) reported frequent delays in executing SOPs, with 63% of corporate security teams citing late or incomplete notifications as the primary cause. These delays disrupt evacuations, heighten safety risks, and cause operational downtime, particularly in industries like retail and manufacturing. Compounding the issue, first responders often arrive before teams are even aware of the incident. This highlights the critical need to replace manual processes and fragmented workflows with real-time, actionable insights to enhance continuity, safety, and trust in crisis management.
42% of organizations rely on manual incident notification methods
Organizations are heavily investing in security, with 53% allocating $1–5M annually and 42% allocating $6–10M. However, 42% still rely on manual notification methods like employee-initiated GSOC alerts, despite the availability of advanced technologies. This outdated approach causes delays, miscommunication, and inefficiencies, with 47% reporting $1–5M in losses from delayed responses to high-severity emergencies, and 32% of transportation and logistics companies experiencing losses over $5M. Real-time notification systems are critical to improving coordination, reducing delays, and mitigating risks.
Challenges with current emergency notification systems lead to a host of communication failures
Emergency notification challenges remain a significant barrier to effective responses, particularly in industries with dispersed and complex operations that hinder timely coordination. These challenges result in critical gaps: 20% of teams struggle to coordinate with first responders due to delays in awareness of onsite emergencies, 13% report limited coverage at rural or understaffed locations, and 16% face difficulties prioritizing high-stakes incidents as overwhelming alert volumes delay responses. Addressing fragmented communication channels through real-time alerting technologies and standardized training is essential to improving SOP execution and coordination.
Real-time 911 call data improve onsite response and decision-making
Security teams often struggle to align their onsite security with external agencies during emergencies, particularly in complex situations involving multiple notifications and stakeholders, resulting in chaos, delays, and heightened risks. Enhanced 911 data visibility helps address these challenges by improving on-site staff effectiveness (16%), reducing unnecessary deployments (16%), and enabling faster decision-making (14%) with immediate context for incident-specific responses.
79% of corporate security leaders agree they could have done more to mitigate response delay
Most respondents (79%) understand the gravity of a delayed response, strongly agreeing that improving communication workflows and reducing reliance on manual escalations could mitigate these delays, paving the way for more streamlined responses during critical incidents.