| Author | Post |
|---|
Zach Colick
Member
| Joined: | Mon Jan 15th, 2007 |
| Location: | Sun City |
| Posts: | 376 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 8th, 2009 11:10 pm |
|
Editor's note: The following story appears in the June 11 Scottsdale Independent. Post comments by hitting reply in the upper right-hand corner. Comments will be posted in an upcoming issue of the Scottsdale Independent.
New Technology Tools
City emergency alerts now available instantly
By Zach Colick
Independent Newspapers
Staying in touch and keeping up with the news is now easier than ever before, thanks to ever-advancing technology.
Scottsdale residents and businesses wanting to be more in the know about important city news and emergency information now have another technological tool at their disposal.
City officials have adopted a new service called Nixle, which is available to local law enforcement agencies and municipalities.
The service sends out short e-mail or text messages to inform area residents of time-sensitive information and alerts. Subscribers can also view the information on Nixle’s Web site.
Tiffani Nichols, Scottsdale Fire Department spokeswoman, said Nixle disseminates important news and information, such as road closures, public safety incidents, traffic delays, flooding, community events and evacuations.
The program is run by the city’s police, fire and transportation management departments and has been operating for about one month, with a number of residents and area business owners subscribing to the pithy informational feeds.
Subscribers can tailor the feeds to their preferences and receive information to their liking.
“We know people get their news in a lot of different ways now and we’re not discontinuing the things that are working, but if we can reach a few extra people in a little bit different way, it’s worth it for us to take that extra step,” Ms. Nichols said.
“It really seems like a tool that’s going to be very useful. Hopefully as we continue to use it, people will see it as a valuable tool.”
There is no way to measure Nixle’s success in Scottsdale; city officials have yet to track the number of users subscribing to the feed.
But residents who have already subscribed to the city of Scottsdale’s Twitter page, as well as those who have “friended” the city on Facebook or who have checked out Nixle’s Web site, are those most likely to subscribe to the service.
Ms. Nichols said the Scottsdale Police Department has 900 Twitter subscribers, or “followers,” while the Scottsdale Fire Department has around 250 followers.
Nixle operates as a one-way communication tool, meaning residents and business owners cannot reply to the propagated text or e-mail messages, Ms. Nichols said.
There is, however, usually a listed phone number for additional questions, as well as a link to get a full e-mail version of the news, rather than the brief news announcement received by Nixle subscribers.
“It’s really all about getting people the information they want pertaining to their local neighborhood and things directly affecting them,” Ms. Nichols said.
Scottsdale Police Department Sgt. Mark Clark said Scottsdale is the first agency in Arizona to use the service.
Arizona State University Police Department is in the works in obtaining the service, as well as other East Valley cities and the city of Prescott.
Ms. Nichols said other cities nationwide have contacted Scottsdale about Nixle to gauge the pros and cons of the program.
“This is exactly where communication is going. It’s going away from the home phone, which was the only choice we had in the past, to a wireless device,” Sgt. Clark said.
“Whether it’s a text message or e-mail, those are the people we need to reach because it’s not doing us any good to leave a voicemail at home when someone is driving to work and there’s a road closed.”
Sgt. Clark said Nixle is a secure communications platform, unlike Twitter or Facebook that are susceptible to hackers who can create accounts that can take on similar personas of other users.
Nixle only allows authorized city staff to send information directly to a subscriber’s wireless device. The security measures were a major selling point to the city.
“Residents and businesses can be assured that the messages are coming from the city of Scottsdale,” Sgt. Clark said.
Nixle has no cost to public safety agencies and municipalities or its subscribers.
Registering for Nixle is easy:
Subscribers are asked to simply create a log-in by entering their cell phone number, e-mail address and the area of town they are interested in receiving alerts. Nixle does not use personal information for any marketing or unwanted solicitations.
Scottsdale residents and business owners, or those who choose to register within the Scottsdale area, will also receive alerts specific to their geographically-targeted area.
To sign up for Scottsdale public safety updates, visit local.nixle.com/register.
Sgt. Clark said it is important to note that Nixle is intended to provide quick and direct emergency communications. It will not replace traditional methods for two-way communication with the public.
|
Current time is 07:31 am | |
|
|
|