City of Burlingame Expands Community Alert System Access With Rapid Notify Self-Registration

April 25, 2012 - PRLog -- The City of Burlingame has been using the Rapid Notify mass notification system for four years, and is now expanding access to the community alert system via online self-registration portal. The recent implementation of the self-registration feature by the city will enable it to expand its database to include cellphone and other unlisted telephone contact numbers.

Burlingame is located in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco peninsula, with a population of approximately 28,000.

“Providing our community with information on current events in a timely manner is significant to our policing strategy,” said Burlingame Police Chief Ed Wood.  “We want to communicate the information in a way that people want to get it.”

Rapid Notify’s self-registration portal helps municipalities ensure that 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 registration 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.

The Rapid Notify system is used not only by the Burlingame Police Department but other city departments such as Public Works. The types of messages sent can range from emergency situation alerts to road construction or severe weather warnings.

“This is a very important implementation for the Burlingame Police Department, and the Rapid Notify system will greatly enhance safety, awareness and efficiency within their operation,” said Steve Sipe, president of Rapid Notify. “We are excited to partner with the City of Burlingame in their proactive efforts to reach out to residents to promote and explain the importance of emergency notification.”