Winterpark, FL --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Sept. 4, 2007
The City of Winter Park and Rollins College held a press conference on Friday, August 31, to announce that they have partnered on a community emergency notification network. Dubbed "Outreach," the system will provide high-speed notification through multiple communication infrastructures including cell phones and loud speakers.
The City will own and operate the emergency alert system. The College is providing the City with a three-year, interest-free loan to make the system a reality. Rollins is also purchasing an additional siren/speaker which will be placed on campus to enhance communication. Authorized College personnel will be able to request that College-specific messages be broadcast over this speaker to the campus community.
"The City of Winter Park realizes the importance of communication, especially in a crisis situation and has brought emergency notification to a higher level. That is why we are implementing Outreach, the city's new comprehensive system to notify city residents during various emergency situations,” said Winter Park Mayor David C. Strong. “Rollins College is a great neighbor and partner within our city limits. It is integral to partner with the College as we put safety measures in place."
Winter Park Fire Chief Jim White described Outreach as “one of the most interactive and robust community-wide emergency alerting networks in the country."
Here are some features of the new system:
- The Outreach network will combine the convenience of electronic devices that many of us turn to for information with the proven alerting benefit of outdoor voice and siren devices.
- Using a network first established by the Federal government to communicate with troops in the field, Outreach will inform and interact with citizens in the event of a community emergency.
- The Outreach network will afford emergency management personnel and other leaders in Winter Park the ability to not only alert residents, but also interact with citizens in need.
- Outreach can alert citizens through landline and cell phones, e-mail and text messaging, FM radio and pagers. For those who may not be close to or have access to these devices, communications will occur via outdoor warning sirens.
- As a part of Outreach, these outdoor warning sirens will include the ability to announce voice messages when large groups of people need to be directed to seek shelter or evacuate a venue.
"Tornadoes passing through Central Florida in February of this year and the Virginia Tech tragedy have underscored the importance of having in place a system that can quickly reach the members of our shared communities," said Rollins President Lewis Duncan.
Federal Signal and EMTEL will provide the infrastructure and technology to make Outreach possible. It is expected that portions of the system, including text messaging capabilities, will be operational by the end of October. Outreach is slated for complete functionality by the end of the year.
Source: Rollins College
