CITY LAUNCHES
MESSAGE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
Sarasota, FL: The City of Sarasota now has the ability
to contact residents and business owners directly via telephone
in cases of emergency or important notification. The system
was launched recently with telephone calls to North Lido
Key notifying water customers their water will be temporarily
shut off due to a construction project and they will need
to boil their water. “This is a very quick and efficient
method of communicating with the community,” said
Public Works Finance Manager Mark Nicholas, who oversees
the program. “In this case, people on North Lido
are receiving a phone call informing them about the temporary
shutoff and what action they need to take. It’s very
similar to a reverse 911 system.” More calls will
go out to North Lido water users as the project continues
for the next two weeks.
The computer software, known as Geocast Web, allows the
City of Sarasota to create a unique
message and send it
via telephone anywhere in Sarasota, to one household or
thousands. In the North Lido Key scenario, 999 residents
and business owners needed to be contacted. A 45-second
message was created, explaining the situation. Then, using
100 telephone lines at a dispatch call center, all 999
people were notified in approximately 15-20 minutes. The
phone calls supplemented other notification methods including
news releases, door hangers and internet postings. “There
are situations when the City needs to communicate directly
and expediently with its residents and business owners,
and this new system allows us to do that,” said Nicholas. “It’s
our hope citizens will be better informed at a time when
it’s especially important.”
It is anticipated the system will be used primarily to
notify the community about public safety concerns and public
works issues, but there will be opportunities for other
notifications. “Recently, the City of Sarasota suddenly
postponed a public hearing because Tropical Storm Fay was
approaching the area. In that situation, we could have
used the Geocast Web system to call the interested parties
and inform them of the postponement,” said Public
Information Officer Jan Thornburg. “Anytime we can
effect better communication with our citizenry it’s
a win-win situation. This is going to be an excellent communication
tool for the City,” said Thornburg.
The system dials up to 3,000 telephone numbers per hour.
When the phone is answered by a person, they are instructed
to press a button to hear an important message from the
City of Sarasota. The message is recorded by a crisp computerized
female voice or a City of Sarasota staff member can record
it. The system also will leave the message on voicemail.
For more information, please contact:
Jan
Thornburg, Public Information Officer (941) 954-2613
jan.thornburg@sarasotagov.com
