Hillcrest Village has implemented the Connect-CTY service to provide city officials the ability to communicate with residents regarding time-sensitive incidents, which may include planned and unforeseen public safety matters.

The Connect-CTY service allows officials to record, send and track personalized voice messages to thousands of residents in just minutes, through a single phone call. The city can also send text messages to cell phones, PDAs, e-mail accounts, and TTY/TDD receiving devices for the hearing impaired. The service requires no additional hardware; it can be used from any computer with Internet access or just a telephone, ensuring that officials can send vital messages from wherever they are located.

“Quick communication has a direct impact on safety, which is why we needed a way to quickly send notifications to residents,” said Tom Wilson, Mayor of Hillcrest Village. “The Connect-CTY service will give us the ability to inform residents efficiently and accurately in time-sensitive situations, such as an approaching hurricane or gas leak, as well as easily distribute important public announcements.”

City administrators can target messages to an unlimited number of groups—everything from mobilizing emergency response teams to coordinating efforts with necessary agencies or volunteers. Authorized users also can use a map on the Connect-CTY system to contact specific geographical locations, sending messages only to the residents within select neighborhoods when needed.

“I encourage Hillcrest Village residents to enter their contact information into the Connect-CTY service database to ensure they are prepared to receive important city notifications,” Wilson said.

Publicly available primary residential phones in Hillcrest Village will automatically be included in the system. However, residents can use the Hillcrest Village Web site (this site) to opt-in to provide their complete information (up to three phone numbers and two e-mail addresses) and indicate if they have a TTY/TDD device by clicking on the button above and entering their information into the secure database. Those without Internet access can have their information added into the system by calling (281) 756-0577. Residents with call blocking services can make sure to receive the city’s time-sensitive calls by adding (281) 756-0577 to their approved number list.

“The best way to keep residents informed and, therefore, safe is through communication, and the Connect-CTY service makes it easy,” said Brendan Cotter, President of Connect-CTY. “With the Connect-CTY service, administrators have a powerful tool for mass communication without having to purchase new computers, software and telephone lines.”

• Hillcrest Village conducted its first test call on July 22, 2008, in order to ensure residents are aware of the program and can provide correct phone numbers and e-mail addresses should they not receive the test message. If residents do not receive the call, they should visit the city’s website (this site) and click the button above to enter their contact information.
  
  Residents without Internet access can have their information added into the database by calling (281) 756-0577.

For more information on the Connect-CTY system, please contact the company at (818) 808-1789.

The Connect-CTY® service is provided by Blackboard Connect Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB). The service was created specifically for local and regional government leaders based upon the award winning Connect platform. The service can be used to send targeted, time-sensitive voice and text messages to landlines, cell phones, PDAs, e-mail addresses, pagers, TTY/TDD receiving devices, and other text receiving devices and is compliant with the Common Alerting Protocol v. 1.1 (CAP-V1.1). The Connect platform is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that has been in service since early 2001 and includes the Connect-ED®, Connect-CTY, Connect-GOV®, and Connect-MIL® systems. In 2007, the Connect platform was used by over 20,500 active sites to send over 240 million voice calls and over 17 million e-mail and SMS messages to constituents.

Blackboard Connect Inc. does not sell, lease, share, or rent personally identifiable information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) to any companies or persons outside of Blackboard or its service providers.