Rapid Notify Assists City of Belmont with Community Alert System Awareness and Access

Aug. 16, 2011 - PRLog -- Rapid Notify, Inc. recently announced its participation in the effort to increase awareness and access to the community alert system for the City of Belmont, California.

The City of Belmont has been using the Rapid Notify mass notification system for over ten years. The recent implementation of the online self-registration feature by the city will enable it to expand its database to include cellphone and other unlisted telephone contact numbers.

Belmont is located in San Mateo County, California, between San Francisco and San Jose, with a population of approximately 26,000.

“In recent years we have noticed that fewer and fewer residents are getting our telephone alerts, we need to change our communication strategies to recognize that many people are moving away from traditional land-line phones to cellular and voice over IP services,” said Belmont Police Chief Don Mattei.  “We have to convey information quickly, in the way people want to get it.”

Rapid Notify’s self-registration portal helps municipalities ensure that their mass communications are privacy compliant by offering opt-in and opt-out capability.  Self-registrants complete a short online form with their contact information, indicate their preferences for notification, and select a secure login enabling them to return and update contact details as often as needed.

The web portal quickly plots address locations on a map and presents them to the registrant to verify or reposition the pin to the exact location of the address.  Confirmed addresses are geo-coded into the Rapid Notify mapping system, which enables public safety officials to target emergency and mass communications to individuals in specific physical locations.

“We are proud to support the City of Belmont in their efforts to utilize modern methods of communication with their citizens,” said Steve Sipe, president of Rapid Notify.  “Our self-registration feature will help Belmont to further engage the community in public safety efforts and educate the public in the importance of emergency notification.”

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Rapid Notify, Inc. has been providing Mass Notification Services for emergency and non-emergency communications to clients across North America for more than 25 years. Rapid Notify provides a comprehensive suite of mass notification and management services ideal for government agencies, municipalities, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, first-responders and businesses. The easy-to-use, web-based emergency notification system enables effective, real-time, two-way communication via telephone, email and SMS text messaging. Rapid Notify offers reliable and cost-effective communication solutions to help people connect during a crisis, manage operational incidents and other communication activities. More information is available at http://www.rapidnotify.com or 800-519-2129.