HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo Code Red ContractAGENDA MEMO
10/20/04
September 23, 2004
TO:
Honorable Mayor, and
City Council Members
FROM: David Ledbetter,
Fire Chief
RE:
CodeRed Notification System
During an emergency, especially after hours, the most difficult process of the emergency
will be notifying staff members and crews to respond in a timely manner once they have
gone home. Currently, if crews have to be called in, the notification of personnel is
accomplished by dialing telephone numbers one at a time. This is a time consuming
process and risky if telephone lines have been downed. If citizens have to be notified, the
only method is to go door-to-door to warn the citizens of the emergency.
This is a problem we have long been concerned with and have devoted many hours of
research time to solve this problem. The most logical solution was to utilize a program
called reverse 9-1-1. The R9-1-1 program minimally requires eight telephone lines and is
only capable of attempting sixteen 30-second calls per minute (960 calls per hour) with the
eight lines. It also requires the purchase of expensive hardware and additional telephone
lines for speedier call-outs.
The Innovation Group, a company that is dedicated to local governments, and of which we
are members, has contracted with Emergency Communications Network on a program
entitled CodeRED that provides the services we need at a discounted price. CodeRED is
a web-based emergency notification system with the capacity to launch more than 60,000
telephone calls to homes and businesses in less than one hour. With this service cities are
not required to purchase expensive hardware or telephone lines. All the data is maintained
on servers located in three major U.S. cities, and emergency messages can be initiated
from homes, offices or anywhere an intemet connection is available. The system is not
limited to employee notification but can be used for a variety of needs to notify citizens
such as:
3800 UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS 75205 TELEPHONE (214) 363-1644
C:\Documents and Settings~nwilson. UNIVPARK~Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK3~AGENDA MEMO for
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· Evacuations
· Hazardous Material Spills
· Fire and flood disasters
· Missing children/persons
· Major weather alerts
· Terrorism alerts
· Street closings
· Water main breaks, etc.
The cost of the services is available in a two year contract and provides the City with
15,000 minutes of usage each year for $5,000.00 per year. Additional minutes are
provided free of charge for training purposes.
The staff recommends that this program be purchased for use as an emergency notification
system to retrieve employees on an emergency basis and for emergency notification of
major developments for citizen awareness.
3800 UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS 75205 TELEPHONE (214) 363-1644
C:\Documents and Settings~nwilson. UNIVPARK~Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK3~AGENDA MEMO for
Codered.doc 4:32 PM 10/12/04