The state’s new $1.4 million emergency notification system is not compatible with the systems recently installed by 41 Hartford-area towns and by the state’s universities.
Those towns and universities spent a total of $510,000 on their systems, but it is now unclear whether theirs will be used.
Capitol Region Council of Government officials are frustrated with the state because their purchase of Reverse 911, the trade name of the emergency notification system for 41 towns in the region, was based on the guidance provided by the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
Now, the cash-strapped member towns of CRCOG and state university officials are figuring out whether they should scrap their new systems in favor of the state’s system.
The system put in place by the state provides the same service, but at no additional cost to the municipalities.
“The questions we have [pertain] to efficient uses of money,” said Lyle Wray, executive director of CRCOG.
“Public safety is expensive and we have to make sure that our money is spent well.”
Played By The Rules
Wray points out that CRCOG complied with all state directives when purchasing the Reverse 911 system.
“We were playing by the rules. We proceeded in good faith” he said.
Wray said the towns acted under the guidance of the state.
“We did exactly what they wanted us to do,” he said.
But in early summer, the state went in a different direction and selected a new vendor, Everbridge, without consulting the municipalities or universities.
“They did it on their own,” said Wray, who also noted that the state had not approved Everbridge as a vendor when CRCOG was in the process of purchasing its own system.
John Gustafson, emergency telecommunications manager at the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said the state made the decision to purchase a different system because the previously preferred vendor, Reverse 911, was “not able to meet our contractual requirements.”
“The industry passed them by,” Gustafson said. “They offered an in-box solution [software] that had to be installed on the towns’ own servers, and the towns had to maintain their own equipment.”
Gustafson explained that a “Web-based system is much more attractive to us.”
State-Of-The-Art
Robert Ross, director of the state Department of Public Safety’s division of fire, emergency and building services, said that the state was given the green light to purchase a statewide system in the spring.
He said that over six weeks, it reached a decision to purchase the use of the Web-based system developed by Everbridge, a California company.
The new system was up and running two weeks ago, he said.
Ross said that his agency did not convene a new committee seeking input from the towns and universities that had already purchased emergency notification systems because it had an abundance of information already.
He said the agency relied on data compiled by a committee in 2000 and that it received input from various telecommunications experts.
In addition to the startup cost of $1.4 million, Everbridge will cost $660,000 annually in operating fees. The system is funded from a monthly, 47-cent surcharge that appears on telephone bills.
Ross explained that the systems are not interoperable because they are proprietary in design and software.
He said Everbridge offers advantages over the other systems.
“From our perspective, it is the state-of-the-art technology of today,” Ross said.
Multiple-Notification-Methods
He noted that Connecticut will not have to pay for new technological upgrades because the state did not purchase software, but rather the use of its system.
The system also will provide multiple notification methods. In October, Connecticut residents may opt for notification by cell phones.
Ross noted that the U.S. General Services Administration had heavily vetted Everbridge, and it is now used by the United Nations and the United Marine Corp.
His agency began researching emergency notification systems about 18 months ago when the request was made by the governor’s office to implement a statewide system.
Connecticut authorities say it is the first statewide notification system in the nation.
New legislation was required before such a system could be implemented, he explained, because telephone companies would not release all listed and unlisted phone numbers necessary for the 911 database.
Once the release of the 911 database was approved, the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security requested that the system be up and running by Sept. 1 in preparation for the hurricane season.
Although some towns may choose to keep their existing systems and run it as a redundant system, due to the ongoing costs, many may migrate to the state system, Ross said.
“By no means are we forcing anybody to come over to our [statewide] system,” he said.
Reader response:
“Does this really surprise anyone? I would say no and that it is typical! What a waste, we need to work together.” — Patricia Bruhn, Pebbles Graphics
“At least 50 other communities have competing systems in place asides from the Capitol Regions 41.” — Joe
