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Home My Public Portal AboutCOTI_PR20091229_Everbridge.pdfMAYOR Jason Buelterman CITY COUNCIL Wanda Doyle, Mayor Pro Tem Charlie R. Brewer Barry Brown Eddie Crone Dick Smith Paul Wolff CITY OF TYBEE ISLAND CITY MANAGER Diane Schleicher CLERK OF COUNCIL Vivian Woods CITY ATTORNEY Edward M. Hughes P.O. Box 2749 – 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749 (866) 786-4573 – FAX (866) 786-5737 www.cityoftybee.org PRESS RELEASE: CONTACT: Jimmy Brown, TEMA Coordinator For immediate release (912) 786-4573, x112 Michael Bodine, IT Support (912) 786-4573, x126 Tybee Island Announces Citizen Alert with Opt-in Program Tybee Island, GA – (December 29, 2009) Earlier this year, Tybee Island’s Emergency Management and Information Technology staff selected a dial-out notification system called Everbridge Aware. This system will be used to provide various levels of notification to residents and others interested in newswo rthy events on Tybee, including non-emergency events like public hearings, urgent messages like road closes or utility repair outages, or full-blown violence or weather emergencies. The City of Tybee has been increasing ways to keep citizens aware of events on the island. While newspaper advertising and public service announcements are the traditional way to communicate non-urgent events, avenues such as the world-wide web or local cable access television can provide more immediate and facile channels. Over this last summer, City staff added Twitter and Facebook for quick and less formal updates. The Everbridge Aware system caps off this effort with a full set of customizable notification options. The basic notification system is pre -populated with landline phone numbers for residents and businesses provided by AT&T. Anyone included in this database will always get notification on their regular phone in the event of a major emergency, such as a hurricane evacuation order. Less urgent messages will not be a utomatically sent out to these telephone numbers. The optional piece of this system allows users to select the kinds of events about which they wish to hear, and the method by which they wish to receive notification. The available notification types are: inclement weather, road closures, traffic delays, utility outages, public hearings, crime bulletins, and beach closings. The available methods include: home phone, business phone, cell phone, email, text message, or other telephone. For people with only a cell phone, or who use a digital, VOIP phone, must use the opt-in system to get notifications. Anyone wanting to sign up for these notifications can do so by visiting the City’s web page, www.cityoftybee.org, and clicking on the “Citizen Alert – Notification Sign-up” button. The visitor will be taken to the Everbridge sign-up page where one can create a free login/password account, and then, using an easy -to-follow menu, proceed to select the types of notices and destination devices on which to receive the m. Users should be aware that they will need to acknowledge receipt of a message in order to stop the system from contacting them on every selected channel. For example, if you have asked for a phone call, an email, and a text message, you will be notified on one device after the other until you listen to the entire message and respond. On the phone, you would listen to the message and press a key to acknowledge you’ve heard the message. Once you press that key, the system will stop trying to reach you. I f your phone is busy or you hang up without responding, the system will then send you an email, and finally send a text message to your phone. If you don’t answer your phone or otherwise check for messages, you can still miss an urgent notification! About Tybee Island, GA.: The City of Tybee Island, Georgia is on the outermost barrier island off the Savannah area coast. With a wild bird sanctuary, over three miles of ocean beaches, and salt marshes on the back river, outdoor recreation activities abound for visitors to the island. As a key defense point to the important Savannah port, Tybee’s Fort Screven, Tybee Fort Theater, Fort Pulaski, and the Tybee Island and Cockspur Lighthouses combine with the unique architectures of the island’s raised cottages to form a rich backdrop for history buffs. MAYOR Jason Buelterman CITY COUNCIL Wanda Doyle, Mayor Pro Tem Charlie R. Brewer Barry Brown Eddie Crone Dick Smith Paul Wolff CITY OF TYBEE ISLAND CITY MANAGER Diane Schleicher CLERK OF COUNCIL Vivian Woods CITY ATTORNEY Edward M. Hughes P.O. Box 2749 – 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749 (866) 786-4573 – FAX (866) 786-5737 www.cityoftybee.org Attracting a strong artistic community, there are several local supporting art galleries. Keeping the island interesting year round are several arts festivals, the Annual Pirate Fest, the Beach Bum Parade, St Patrick’s Day celebrations, the Hot Rod Run, the Beach Bash, and the Christmas Parade, as well as fireworks displays on Independence and New Year’s Days off the Parker Pier and Pavilion. The Marine Science Center cooperates with Georgia’s DNR to protect threatened sea turtle species by searching for nests, protecting their eggs, and making sure hatchlings make it to sea. For visitor information, stop by http://www.tybeevisit.com/, and to find more about the City of Tybee Island, visit our web site at http://www.cityoftybee.org/. # # # Picture attached: Everbridgebuttonsmall.jpg