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Connect-CTY™ MASS NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
The Town of
Please accept our invitation to participate in this great service. We know that your personal information is important, and rest assured that we will not share it with anyone. If you have NOT already received a test phone call from us, or you would like to provide additional contact information, click the Connect-CTY image button to sign up. The Connect-CTY image button may not appear on some browsers. If you do not see the image directly below this message, please go directly to https://www.portal.nticonnectcty.com/9197670 to register and or edit your listing.
Below are resident Frequently Asked Questions provided by Connect-CTY™ What is the Connect- CTY service?The Connect-CTY service allows authorized civic leaders to create and rapidly disseminate time-sensitive messages to every telephone number stored in the notification database. With the Connect-CTY service, authorized users can send thousands of messages in minutes. Only authorized officials are allowed access to the system.
How does the service work? Authorized officials record a voice message that is then delivered quickly to individual phones in the notification database.
What types of messages will be sent using the service? Any message regarding the safety or welfare of our community would be disseminated using the Connect-CTY service.Examples would include severe weather warnings and updates, hazardous traffic or road conditions inside the town or affecting local routes, and any other situation that could impact the safety, property, or welfare of our citizens.
Does the Connect- CTY service replace other systems that have been used to provide time-sensitive information to residents?This system is a significant enhancement to existing means of communication and is supplemental to, not a replacement for, the systems we have used in the past. The call-in emergency information line (772)-569-7686, which is activated during an emergency situation, will still be available. Also, TV, radio and our town web site will continue to broadcast important announcements.
Is my telephone number included in the notification database? It is our intention and hope that every residence and commercial facility in our community be included in the notification database. For businesses, we only store one main phone number. For residents, we may have more than one number that belongs to you in the database. Additionally, you may request to have a secondary number be entered into our database for priority calling.
May I use a cell phone as my notification database listing? Yes, we can accept cell phones as secondary phone numbers in the database and encourage you to request that your number be included.
What precautions are being taken to protect personal information? Connect- CTY™ is a service of The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI). NTI takes security and privacy concerns very seriously and does not sell, trade, lease or loan any data about our clients to any third party. From a technical perspective, we utilize multiple physical and virtual layers of firewalls to maintain data security. NTI only utilizes secure transmissions with its customers. No confidential information is ever transmitted between NTI and its customers using e-mail or FTP, but rather always utilizes either a VPN tunnel or SSL. Data is hosted in state-of-the-art facilities which require photo identification, thumb-print recognition, keyed access, and are manned 24/7 with full-security personnel. All data is encrypted prior to being placed on tape for offsite storage. NTI also retains an external, independent security firm to perform annual security audits.
Will there be a way to positively identify incoming calls which are made by the town using the system? The caller-ID number for calls generated by the Connect-CTY service will be the same as the Town Office number: (772)-569-7686. In addition, every message will begin with the same standard announcement: “Hello, this is Chief Redstone calling with an important message from the Town of Orchid”. The message content will follow this standard introduction.
Will the Connect- CTY service work if I have a call screening system on my phone?There are several varieties of call screening devices which use differing protocols for screening. In general, the system has been found to work with these devices; but, some may require some type of pre-programming to allow our town’s telephone number to pass through. We may conduct periodic test to assure that messages are being delivered to numbers in the notification database.
If I am a non-resident home or condominium owner, what phone should be listed in the notification database? For non-residents or owners who reside out of our town/city, you may provide an additional phone number to be included in our database to contact during certain situations. In general, calls are sent to the primary number only, but we also have the ability to call multiple numbers for each resident or business when requested by the resident or business. Please contact our town hall office at (772)-569-7686 to provide us with that information.
If I have provided more than one phone number, when will they be called? Should a situation arise that requires us to contact you at multiple phone numbers, we can activate the system to place a simultaneous call to all of your numbers. In most cases, we will be sending calls only to one phone number.
My primary phone or my second listing is a cell phone with a non-local area code. Will the Connect- CTY service call numbers outside the area?Yes. The area code does not impact whether or not a call is made.
How does the Connect- CTY system respond to busy signals or no-answer situations?For busy signals, the call will be repeated several times in an attempt to reach you. The same is true for No-answer and Call-waiting. If the phone is answered by a message recorder, the message will be left on the answering device. If, after several attempts the call does not successfully go through, the system will stop attempting to call.
I am receiving town notification calls at my fax or my secondary phone line. Can I switch to have the system call my primary phone number? Yes. Please go to the Connect-CTY registration page and edit your contact information.
I was not able to listen to the entire call. Is there a way to repeat the message? Yes, at the end of the message playback, simply press the star (*) key on your telephone to have it repeated in its entirety.
I answer the phone but the “Hello” message repeats. It then hangs up, calls back, and the same thing happens again. How can I hear the entire message? Repeating or looping of messages happens when the system detects excessive noise in the background. This can be caused by loud radio/television volumes, people talking, or busy traffic noise. When you receive the next call, say “hello” once and turn down the volume of your radio/television or press the mute button on your telephone to allow full message delivery.
Crime Stats Report
Recently one of our residents asked the question, “How safe are we compared to the surrounding communities?” I have collected some statistical information that will compare the crime statistics as reported to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. I have used a drill down method of comparison from national crime statistics to our local area.
The first comparison will be the 7 major index crimes (Murder, Sexual Offenses, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny, and Auto Theft). The Crime Index Rate is the rate per 100,000 population.
In the year 2006 the population of the United State was about 299,500,000 people and the reported Major Index I Crimes was 11,401,313, or an Index Rate of 3,671 Nation Wide. The 2006 population for the State of Florida was 18,090,000 and we reported 849,879 Major Index I Crimes, or a Crime Index Rate of 4,632. I want to show a comparison of the Florida Crime Index to the other most populated states and ones that are familiar to most of us.
State Population Reported Index I Crimes Index Rate Florida 18,090,000 849,879 4,632 California 36,460,000 1,350,137 3,703 Texas 23,507,000 1,080,838 4,585 New York 19,306,000 480,270 2,487 Penn. 12,440,600 358,653 2,891
I next looked at the rates for the Counties within the State of Florida and compared Indian River County to some of the other surrounding counties.
County Population Reported Index I Crimes Index Rate Indian River 135,260 4,422 3,269 Brevard 543,050 21,904 4,033 St. Lucie 259,315 9,912 3,822 Martin 142,645 4,497 3,152 Palm Beach 1,287,990 63,798 4,953 Orange 1,079,520 68,520 6,347
I next looked at each municipality within Indian River County and compared their individual index rates.
Agency Population Reported Index I Crimes Index Rate Sheriff’s Off 87,090 3,024 3,472 Fellsmere PD 4,628 74 1,599 Sebastian PD 21,666 563 2,598 Vero Beach PD 18,160 718 3,953 I.R. Shores PD 3,720 35 940 Orchid 1,000 2 200
Also we wanted to look at the calls for service and the criminal activity in the Orchid area compared to the surrounding areas North and South on A1A and North and South on the mainland along U.S. #1. Here is a sample of calls received at the 911 center for the period of Aug 1 to Sept 31, 2007.
Call Type Orchid North A1A South A1A South US1 NorthUS1 911 2 15 62 9 14 Alarms 29 54 84 23 18 Animal 1 3 6 8 4 Arrest 0 0 4 4 6 Auto Burg 1 4 2 0 5 Vandalism 0 4 2 7 1 Disturbance 0 9 6 23 35 Drugs 0 0 0 3 6 Medical 4 11 56 26 24 Burglary 2 3 0 0 4 Theft 0 3 8 4 5 Traffic 0 44 8 112 99 Trespass 1 7 0 4 1 Auto Theft 0 0 2 1 2 TOTALS 59 343 456 473 475
As you can see from all the crime stats and a two month sample of 911 calls, the residents that live in the Town of Orchid enjoy a safer place to live compared to the surrounding areas of Indian River County, the State of Florida, and the United States.
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