Government Technology
Public CIO Magazine: Technology news to public sector C-level executives

AlertSanDiego Earns Golden Watchdog Award



Print
Comment
Brush fire

Jul 1, 2008, News Report

Found in: Regionalization / Consolidation

"I don't know how we could have possibly evacuated 515,000 people safely without it. Not one citizen, despite these six very dangerous wildfires, was caught in a fire during the evacuation,"

On May 29, the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services (OES) received the San Diego Taxpayers Association's Golden Watchdog Award for AlertSanDiego, the county's mass notification system provided by Twenty First Century Communications (TFCC) of Columbus, Ohio.

"The County of San Diego has invested heavily in its emergency preparedness systems so that we can protect the public in an emergency and AlertSanDiego has proven to be one of our best investments," said Greg Cox, Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors. "AlertSanDiego received national praise and attention for its role in safely evacuating more than 515,000 people during the 2007 fires and we can say without a doubt that it saved lives."

In addition to calling residents' home phones, AlertSanDiego allows residents to register cell phones, SMS devices, e-mail, fax, and TTY information online to receive alerts during an emergency. The Taxpayers Association praised the county for eliminating overhead expenses of servers, phones and maintenance. Those wishing to register can do so online.

"I don't know how we could have possibly evacuated 515,000 people safely without it. Not one citizen, despite these six very dangerous wildfires, was caught in a fire during the evacuation," stated Ron Lane, San Diego County's Director of the Office of Emergency Services.

Within a month of the fires, Twenty First Century uploaded custom online maps developed by San Diego County's GIS teams showing the fire perimeter. During heavy rains, TFCC alerted 90,000 people vulnerable to flood, mudslides and debris flow.

TFCC congratulates the county for this honor and for its safe and successful evacuations. "We are proud to have been of service to San Diego County in its time of need," said Jim Kennedy, president and founder of Twenty First Century Communications. "This award is much deserved."

Twenty First Century provides its emergency alert system to numerous city, county, public safety and government agencies nationwide. The company's system has also helped recover a missing child, warned utility customers of an attempted fraud, sent heat wave safety tips to senior citizens, and helped reunite families after Hurricane Katrina.

Related Products and Services

Latest News in Regionalization / Consolidation


Latest Government Technology News


Industry Solutions for Government

Read real world deployments of technology in government from our sponsors.

View All Industry Solutions

Marketplace


This section
brought to you by:
Ca - Transforming IT Management

Enterprise Systems Management Survey Take this survey and get complimentary access to:
  • Forrester: Managing IT When Times Get Tough March 2008
  • Forrester: Market Overview: The IT Management Software Market in 2008, March 2008
Take the Survey Now!

SF Health Plan

  Yes! I would like more information about CA's solutions for Government.

IT Governance

IT Network Management: State and Local Governments Face New Challenges Network and voice management tools help agancies get optimum performance from today's increasingly complex networks.

IT Governance: Making the Difference in Cities, Counties and States Project and portfolio management helps government respond to old and new challenges. Featuring case studies from California Department of Agriculture, New York City, and Oakland County, Michigan.

CA Network & Voice Management Solution Brief Integrated, fault and performance management for end-to-end service assurance of multi-vendor, multi-technology converged networks.

University Safeguards Wired & Wireless Access CA's Network ensures availability & performance of key systems with single, unified view.

The Power of IT Helps Oakland County, Michigan, Develop a High-Tech Future CA helped Oakland County implement effective IT Governance and Service Management Solutions to support the evolution of their economy.

Enterprise Management

Success Stories: San Francisco Health Plan San Francisco Health Plan helps more people access affordable healthcare by simplifying IT management

Success Stories: Social Services Agency, County of Santa Clara County of Santa Clara improves the quality of social services with simplified IT management

Solution Brief: Service Availability Management The CA Service Availability Management solution correlates events across a broadrange of IT domains; enabling you to solve problems faster, drive down costs and expedite time to value.

Risk Compliance and Best Practices

Network and VoiceManagement for Evolving Business IT management specialist CA provides a foundation for delivering the value of unified network and voice management

By applying new levels of consolidation, automation and insight, dynamic Business Svc Mgt delivers improved service levels and cost controls

Deploying the CMDB for Change & Configuration Management The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) plays a critical role within the ITIL framework.

IT Service Management Process Maps Select your route to ITIL© Best Practice

Business Service Management Links IT Services To Business Goals Adopting a process-centric approach to IT, applying ITIL® best practices and building a service-oriented team culture