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NYC to test multiple emergency alert systems

By WDavidStephenson | December 10, 2007

Our far-flung correspondents report. This time, John Solomon sends an alert about alerts in the Large Apple…

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, again displaying his technological sophistication, will hold a bake-off to determine which alternative (or combinations thereof) emergency alert systems are most effective in the big city (no, that doesn’t include ALERT: YANKS LOSE TO SOX AGAIN).

The system, NYC Alert, will begin sending test alerts this afternoon to those who’ve signed up.

It will be tested in Lower Manhattan & Rockaways (email and text message [maximum length 120 characters: gosh, that makes Twitter’s 140 limit positively profligate!]), the Northeast Bronx and Southwest Staten Island (e-mail alerts and reverse-911 [my least favorite, since they don’t reach those who only use cellular, and , as the wildfires showed, aren’t effective with non-English speaking minorities ). The different technologies tested during the pilot will be evaluated to determine whether they could be deployed citywide.

IMHO, testing alternatives under real-life situations involving real-life PEOPLE (I know, it’s a novel concept…) is preferable to the approach many communities and colleges have taken, choosing their system (usually only one, another flaw — what if it isn’t available and/or some people don’t have access to it or choose it?). You can bet that whatever systems NYC chooses, will greatly influence choices by communities that have not done so already, due to its size and media coverage.

N.B. the following comment merits use of my Blatant Conflict of Interest seal of approval, since I have a verbal agreement with the company regarding new business development. Not that I’ve made a penny from it, but hope springs eternal:

However, IMHO, none of these techniques, because they are opt-in, presume access to the preferred device, and are based on where you’re may be when disaster strikes, can hold a candle to SquareLoop’s Mobile Alert System, which broadcasts impossible-to-ignore emergency message to any mobile device that is in the affected area, without any opt-in requirement. As I’ve noted previously, it also is advantageous because it can also be used for real-time traffic alerts.

Now back to our regularly-scheduled programming.

The questionnaire that follows the signup process says that the city is considering offering other, non-emergency community messages via the system, ranging from major infrastructure repairs to street fairs. That’s another plus in my book (provided that the emergency messages are quite distinct from regular ones so that alert fatigue doesn’t set in) because people will already be familiar with it before disaster strikes.

In announcing Notify NYC, Hizzoner said: “I have always believed that the public deserves the swiftest access to information its government can accurately provide during emergencies …Notify NYC will give New Yorkers in the pilot communities access to information while serving as a proving ground for different technologies that could one day benefit the entire City.”

Again, while I think Square Loop is the preferable technology, this is a worthwhile experiment, and NYC’s clout should hasten the day when every community, large and small, will have such a system.

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