Verified. Unfakeable. No algorithms.
VS Connects is one open channel from your public safety agencies straight to residents' phones. No feeds, no algorithms, no metered fees. Just verified local information, delivered the moment you send it.
On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina. Clay County was largely spared the worst of it, and its first responders immediately deployed to help neighboring counties that were not. The Sheriff's Office sent officers and resources to Haywood, Buncombe, Avery, and Mitchell. County EMS coordinated medical personnel and supplies into the hardest-hit communities.
The storm also made something plain: when every second counts, urgent public information moves through too many hands. A report leaves the field, waits on a radio, waits on a dispatcher, waits on a text, and finally lands on social media, where most residents never see it in time.
VS Connects was built after Helene as the answer to that problem. Clay County now runs its public safety broadcast channel on it, with more than 900 resident subscribers receiving verified alerts directly on their lock screens.
"The purpose of our public safety broadcast channel is to keep people informed of situations that are ongoing and developing, sometimes rapidly, that have potential for loss of life or property. If they're informed, they can make informed decisions. The channel is the mechanism that gets critical information to them."
— Chief Deputy Todd Wingate, Clay County NC Sheriff's OfficeHow VS Connects works, in 90 seconds.
No per-message charge. No per-recipient charge. One open channel to every resident, always.
Traditional public alerting passes through five handoffs before it reaches anyone. VS Connects is one step, from the field to every subscriber's lock screen, and the record is published as it happens.
| Traditional Communications | Connected Community |
|---|---|
| Information is published | Information is delivered |
| Citizens search | Citizens receive |
| Multiple sources | One verified source |
| Delayed awareness | Immediate awareness |
| Fragmented response | Coordinated response |
| Information bottlenecked in the office | All first responders connected from the field |
Every channel is county-verified. Nothing anonymous, nothing algorithmic, nothing metered.
Protects life and property during active emergencies and the recovery that follows.
Maintains a public alert history that mutual aid and outside responders can act on.
Aggregates real-time updates across every enabled U.S. jurisdiction on one network.
Delivers lock-screen alerts only from confirmed public information sources. No fakes.
An instant messaging channel for the people responsible for keeping a community safe, plus a single authoritative public record of what is happening in your county, updated live so mutual aid partners can respond without delay.
Easier to operate than social media, faster than email, and more trusted than anything running through Big Tech. A county can roll out in two weeks, with full coordination, setup, and support included.
Live updates from your public safety agency, county government, schools, utilities, and local businesses, delivered straight to your lock screen. Nothing to like, comment on, or scroll past. Just the announcement, received.
Real-time flooding updates, Clay County, April 7, 2025.
Every channel keeps a complete public record, with posts up to 20,000 characters.
The safest way home is the one you know is open.
No ads. No politics. No fake accounts. No national noise. Just the people and places that matter to your everyday life.
| Feature | VS Connects | Facebook / Social | Nixle / Legacy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery control | You control delivery | No control | Controlled or automated |
| Message awareness | Trusted local source delivers it | Most residents never see it | Trusted source delivers it |
| Message retrieval | Information comes to you | Must be hunted for in a feed | Delivered by text, call, or email |
| Delivery method | Instant lock-screen push | Algorithm-filtered feed | Mixed, operator bottleneck |
| Channel capacity | Supports many agencies easily | Complex Page Manager rules | Only trained operators |
| Information environment | No fraud, no politics, no metered costs | Fraud, AI content, trolling, politics | Emergency-only, metered usage |
| Public record | Complete published record | Severely degraded | No published record |
| System validation | Weekly testing standard | None | Optional |
| Agency support | 7am–7pm text support, usually under 30 min | None for civic agencies | One support call per month |
| Public user support | Included, ongoing | None | Automated, limited |
Clay County's first responders are decorated for their service. VS Connects is the channel they chose to reach their residents.
Clay County
Sheriff's Office
Clay CountyThe Clay County Sheriff's Office and EMS were recognized in the Congressional Record for their mutual aid response to Hurricane Helene.
Pricing is set by county population, published in the open. Every rural county in the United States deploys for under $5,000 a year. The largest metros are handled by quote.
| Annual Price | Population Range | Example Counties (NC) |
|---|---|---|
| $950 | Up to 10,000 | Graham (8,179) |
| $1,500 | 10,001 – 35,000 | Cherokee (30,373) |
| $2,250 | 35,001 – 80,000 | Macon (38,717), Haywood (63,048) |
| $3,000 | 80,001 – 170,000 | Brunswick (167,112) |
| $4,000 | 170,001 – 275,000 | Davidson (177,809) |
| $5,000 | 275,001+ | Buncombe (279,210) |
| By Quote | Over 300,000 | Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford |
VS Connects Public Safety Ambassador
Todd ran Clay County's public safety broadcast channel as Chief Deputy. He is the person who deployed VS Connects in the field, and he will walk your team through exactly how it would work in your county, agency to agency.
Book a Call with Todd WingateUSPACE® is led by founder & CEO Tobin Brogunier. Office (828) 576-5236, support@virtualstorefronts.com. A Delaware C-Corporation headquartered in Andrews, North Carolina.
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