Red Bank city commissioners are considering an alert system which citizens could opt into to receive notifications about important information, including weather emergencies, road closures, meetings and community events.
Frank Sheddon of Birmingham, Ala.-based High Ground Solutions gave a presentation for commissioners at their Aug. 1 work session on the company's Rapid Cast Notification System, a web-based alert system allowing city officials to get information out to citizens in real time. Commissioner Terry Pope, who's known Sheddon for more than 30 years and invited him to make the presentation, said the system could be beneficial by offering officials a quick way to get information to residents such as weather warnings, or announcements about community meetings or garbage or leaf pickup changes.
Commissioner Carol Rose pointed out that when the power goes out due to weather conditions, many people are still able to access information such as tornado warnings on their cellphones - which isn't always the case with older citizens who may not have a mobile device.
"Calling to tell them there's an emergency might save some lives," she said.
Officials authorized to use the system can sign into it from their computers or mobile devices to send text or voice messages to all citizens or just a select group, of which officials can set up as many as they would like, Sheddon explained. The system also has a survey feature that allows officials to ask citizens questions. Responses are entered by pushing "1" for "yes" or "2" for "no." Officials can choose whether to send information immediately or to schedule it to go out at a later date or time.
"You don't have to send everything to everyone," Sheddon said.
When citizens sign up to receive the alerts, they can supply as many phone numbers as they want, specifying the number they want to be called first. The system records whether the person picks up and how long he or she stays on the phone. If the call goes unanswered by a citizen who has provided more than one number, the message will then go to subsequent numbers provided until the person picks up or all numbers have been tried, Sheddon said.
In other cities where the service is offered, Sheddon said an average of 50-75 percent of residents sign up.
The service would cost the city a baseline of around $4,500, allowing officials to send unlimited texts and emails, as well as 30,000 total voice messages. If about half of the city's approximately 11,000 residents opted in, that would allow officials to disseminate around six to eight voice messages a year, Sheddon said. The city would incur extra charges if it sends more.
Sheddon said Birmingham is the largest municipality using the system countrywide. The Rhea County school system uses it as well, and companies such as Dollywood and La-Z-Boy use it to communicate with their employees, said Sheddon. Walt Disney World began using the system six months ago for security purposes, he said.
Soddy-Daisy adopted a similar notification system offered by Everbridge for its citizens in 2014. Residents can provide their information to receive messages from the city be visiting soddy-daisy.org.
To learn more about the system Red Bank officials are considering, visit highgroundsolutions.com/rapidcast.