Latest / Illinois Valley - Shaw Local / Ottawa implementing new emergency alert system

Transcript

Ottawa implementing new emergency alert system · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Ottawa implementing new emergency alert system. Written by Tom Collins.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: This article is being read by an automated voice brought
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: to you by Everlett. If you live in Ottawa and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: you're tired of getting alerts about water main breaks on
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the other side of town, then help is on the way.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Ottawa has a new system with site specific alerts. The
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: city is phasing out its Nicks alert system, which was
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: reliable but limited, in favor of the Everbridge three hundred
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and sixty system. The big change is geolocation. Now, alerts
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: about water main breaks only go to affected residents. Previously,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: when there was a boil order, for example, all persons
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: signed up for the program would have received that notification,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: said Wendy Brown, nine to eleven supervisor. Now the new
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: system will be able to take the address you input,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: and if the address attached to your phone number is
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: within the affected area, then only those addresses will be notified.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: This will save from unnecessary messages being received. The Ottawa
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: City Council approved the new system in May. Brown said
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the system will be one hundred percent live by September first.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: In the meantime, authorities are urging all city residents to
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: sign up, including all those who are registered with NIXL.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: While the data on file with NIXL will automatically transfer,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: NIXL didn't record street addresses, and without street address the
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Everbridge three hundred and sixty system won't be able to geolocate.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Sign up flyers will be distributed in city water bills
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: issued in August. Why sign Up, Ottawa Police Chief Mike
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Cheathams said the new system includes some features of interest
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: to residents and business owners alike frauds and scams. These
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: include fraud alerts. Say a counterfeeder passes a bad one
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: hundred dollars bill note at a local restaurant, Ottawa Police
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: will issue an alert to other retail businesses to be
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: on the lookout for bogus notes. Any consumer scams reported
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: to Ottawa Police will result in a citywide advisory crime reduction.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Digital notifications will also help Ottawa Police collect crime solving information.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Suppose a child is abducted, Ottawa Police can use Everbridge
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty to ask residents in a certain
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: neighborhood to check their home surveillance of doorbell cameras. Anybody
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: who spots a getaway vehicle by its license plate could
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: help police track the vehicle and recover the child. Personal assessation.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Brown emphasized that residents who sign up are in control.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: They can choose which type types of notifications they want
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and don't want. If you don't want to get the
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: weather notifications, then you don't have to get the weather notifications,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: she said. You get to determine what kinds of notifications
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: you want to receive in order to have us best
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: help you. Cheatham said. Geolocation also reduces the likelihood residents
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: will disregard a group notification. While weather alerts are pertinent
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: to everyone, many residents tire of site specific alerts and
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: eventually ignore most, if not all, incoming texts. You constantly
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: get notices for boil orders on the north side when
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: you live on the south side, so you ignore it,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Cheatham lamented. You get used to it not pertaining to you.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Nixl enjoyed a citywide participation rate of fifty percent. Ottawa
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Police hope the Everbridge three hundred and sixty reaches a
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: much higher percentage of households and businesses. Brown specifically urged
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: residents to reach out to elderly parents and neighbors who
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: might not be tech savvy Everbridge three hundred and sixty
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: will reach landline telephones. She said, so a ones time
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Assist will ensure that senior citizens get timely information to
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: any phone mounted to the kitchen wall or perched on
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: the nightstand. Cheatham emphasized that the NIXEL system was reliable
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: and positively received by the public. Law enforcement simply decided
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: there was room for improvement as the technology evolved. The
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: numbers show that the citizens rely on it and find
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: it useful and appreciate the information coming to them, he said,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: so this is just a way to make small improvements.