HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.3 Emergency Alert Notification System
STAFF REPORT CITY CLERK
File #520-20
CITY COUNCIL
DATE:March 15, 2016
TO:
Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM:
Christopher L. Foss, City Manager
SUBJECT:
Review of New Emergency Alert Notification System
Prepared by Roger Bradley, Assistant to the City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will receive an overview of the newly acquired Everbridge Emergency
Notification System.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The first year of service for the Everbridge system has been fully funded by a grant received by
the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the report.
Reviewed By
Administrative Service Director
DESCRIPTION:
Alert Notification Systems, often referred to as reverse 9-1-1 systems, are widely used by
government agencies to notify residents and other members of the public of emergency
situations. The City has various tools available for disseminating information regarding public
safety matters during an emergency, including the emergency broadcast system, radio stations
and the Web. However, unlike those systems, an Alert Notification System has the ability to dial
mobile and landline telephones, and send emails and text messages to alert the public of
emergency situations. Alerts and notifications that residents might receive through this system
include time-sensitive messages about fires, flooding, levee failures, severe weather, disaster
events, unexpected road closures, missing persons and evacuations of buildings and
neighborhoods in specific geographic locations.
For the past few years, the City has used the CodeRED alert systems for emergency notification
services. Recently, the City of Dublin, in partnership with emergency response agencies
ITEM NO. 3.3
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throughout Alameda County, has transitioned to a new state-of-the-art mass notification system
to alert residents about emergency events and other important community news. This tool
provides a regional partnership that will help people stay connected to issues impacting their
health, safety, and well-being. The system enables jurisdictions within the County to provide
essential information quickly, through a variety of avenues, when there is a threat to the health
and safety of residents. The new service provider is Everbridge.
Everbridge’s emergency notification system database includes all listed and unlisted landline
telephone numbers within the City of Dublin. However, it does not include other alternative
contact information such as email, cell phone, and work phone numbers for each resident. To
ensure residents receive emergency notices in a timely manner, both at work and home,
residents are encouraged to log into the system and provide other contact options such as
cellular and work phone numbers, and email, TTY device and instant messaging information,
which will allow residents to receive emergency notifications when they are not at home or if
they do not have a home phone. All information will be kept confidential. This alternative contact
information can be added to the database through the online Alameda County Alert service, a
www.dublin.ca.gov/108/AC-Alert-
link to which can be found on the City’s website at
Information.
This new Alert Notification System by Everbridge was made possible through a grant from the
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services. The first year of services are provided
at no additional charge to the City. Future costs of the service will be shared by participating
jurisdictions, and Staff anticipates that the cost of the service will be less or equal to the
previous contract with CodeRED, which had an annual fee of $15,000.
In order to introduce the new service to the community, Staff will conduct a demonstration as
part of its report to the City Council, outlining how the system works and how residents can sign
up for alternative contact options. Further outreach to the community will be conducted in
coordination with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services. Staff is also
promoting this service as part of community events, on the City’s website, and as part of the
recent City Report sent to the community with the Recreation Guide.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
None.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
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