8 Ways to Modernize Municipal Alerts Every Season

Winter, spring, summer or fall, there’s never a slow season when it comes to running a municipal agency. Public servants must stay alert year-round to make sure services run smoothly, citizens are safe and informed, and any emergencies are handled swiftly and skillfully.

One necessary component of making that happen is good communications, made easier when you have the right tools to disseminate information and notify the right people at the right time, in a format they will notice.

Enter the world of notifications and alerts, a service that lets you send mass messages or emergency notifications to a specified group based on the parameters you set:

• Communication channel – email, SMS, phone call, web browser, push notification and/or social media post.
• Geographic area – targeted communications using geomatic tools (the use of geographic data and analysis).
• Timing – immediate dissemination or a time of your choosing.

The alert travels through our cloud-based network – no expensive hardware required – directly to the citizens who need it. Cloudli’s redundant, cloud-based architecture provides assurance the alerts will reach their destination, even during cataclysmic weather events.

Here are some examples of how OMNIalert can work during every season of the year, and across all types of municipal groups:

Spring

Flood and tornado alerts

In many communities, spring brings increased risk of natural disasters, including floods, severe storms and tornadoes. Emergency management teams can use an alerts and notifications platform to give citizens advanced notice of a threat, and provide instructions throughout – whether that means evacuation instructions or requests for residents to shelter in place so they don’t put themselves at risk or get in the way of response personnel and vehicles.

Summer camp sign-ups

Many parents spend much of the spring searching for activities that will keep their kids busy in the summer months ahead. With a notification system in place, parks and recreation departments can inform residents of opportunities such as day camps, swim lessons, art classes and more. They can relay registration details and include links for more information and to register online.

Summer

Heat advisories

Extreme heat waves in Canada over the last few summers have led to illnesses and even death. Municipalities can prevent tragedy by sending affected communities the necessary warnings when severe heat is predicted. They can provide advice about how to stay safe and hydrated, and communicate details about cooling shelters or other public services. The ability to send messages across multiple channels enables residents to get the necessary information one way or another.

Holiday events and street closures

Let the community know about holiday events such as parades, fireworks shows and festivals, so they have all the information they need to participate. At the same time, it’s critical to notify any residents who might be impacted by the event through street closures, parking restrictions or even increased noise and traffic. Notification and alert platforms have geometric tools that make those hyper-localized notifications possible. And people appreciate when they have fair warning of inconveniences so they can prepare accordingly.

Fall

School reminders

School districts have plenty of information they need to convey to parents, including registration reminders, first-day details, vaccination requirement reminders and drop-off details. As the year begins, they may also need to send emergency alerts in cases of inclement weather or a public safety situation. Alerts and notifications platforms can provide the highest level of data privacy and security, with some as robust as a seven-layer data protection model  . This lets you assure parents they will be kept in the loop without the hassle of their data leaking to undesirable sources.

Election information

Fall means elections for many governmental bodies, and providing citizens with reliable information about when, where and how to vote can be critical to increasing participation as well as building public trust. Election offices can schedule a series of alerts leading up to the election that instruct citizens how to participate in voting. The messages can contain links to election websites, official forms, polling locations and even a final alert when polls are about to close.

Governmental offices can also use a notification platform to send out election surveys, one of the best ways to get the populations’ pulse on current public affairs. Residents can provide survey feedback by texting back a code or number.

Winter

Snow removal

When your agency has a city service planned that impacts its residents, such as leaf collection, street cleaning or snow removal, let them know in advance so they feel included and know what’s needed, such as having cars out of the way. Alert platforms often include 411 Directory Import services that make it easy to develop a baseline list of contacts using location-based telephone data. You can then let residents opt-in to notifications and select their delivery preferences using a web portal admin.

Schedule an announcement prior to the event and another once it begins. These types of communications go a long way toward encouraging cooperation and preventing the expense of ticketing and towing for those who don’t comply.

Public health notification

Due to the recent pandemic, we all know how important public health information can be in keeping communities safe. Public health officers can use OMNIalert as part of their strategy to notify people when there’s an outbreak and point them toward resources that provide instructions and information. For instance, if a flu outbreak occurs, you can alert residents, encourage them to get the flu vaccine, and provide a link where they can find the clinic or pharmacy closest to them.

Create the Modern City of Tomorrow – Today

You don’t have to wait any longer for telecommunications technology that delivers important information to the hands of your constituents quickly, safely and conveniently. Talk to a Cloudli expert to learn how you can build a modern communications infrastructure for your municipality today using Cloudli OMNIalert’s alert and notification services. Reach out for a demo today!