A system for the broadcast of alert messages to selected groups of recipients and their communications devices of a plurality of different types and communicating through a plurality of different communications means. Recipient profiles or characteristics are received variously from databases, directories, and communications nodes accessible by the system. These sources are queried for the identification of selectable groups which are then presented to a dispatcher for choosing the recipients. The alert message is then provided to delivery means which employ a plurality of included means each of which is particularly configured to communicate the alert message to a corresponding target device type. A response handler module then receives responses from the target devices for later reporting.