Emergency Notification System (CTY)
The City of Live Oak has a telephone alerting system that is designed to provide not only our citizens but the business community as well, with both emergency messages and informational messages relating to important City issues. To receive these important Emergency Notifications, please complete the sign-up portion below.
Connect CTY- Telephone Alerting System
Office of Emergency Management
The City of Live Oak has a telephone alerting system that is designed to provide not only our citizens but the business community as well, with both emergency messages and informational messages relating to important City issues.
At the present time the city has the capability of using the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for both radio and television and the telephone Emergency Notification System (ENS), using the data base of the Bexar Metro 9-1-1 System in the event of a city emergency such as a chemical spill or some other incident that may place our citizens in danger. Two problems exist with both alert systems. First of all, the city does not have direct access to either one and in the middle of the night most people are not watching TV or listening to the radio. In addition, many citizens no longer have “land lines” and use their cellular telephone as their only phone.
As such the city has joined some of our neighbors including Universal City and Selma in setting up our own system with a company called Blackboard Connect Inc. and their telephone system known as Connect CTY, and the system is up and running. The primary advantage of this telephone system is we have direct access; we can make any kind of call; and the system can include up to three numbers per household/business. You can have your home phone number, a cellular number, an office number, or an e-mail address included in the data base. The system will make three (3) attempts to call the number(s) and will also leave a message on an answering machine if it detects one. There are NO costs associated with this system to our residents or the business community and the city can make as many calls as needed with no added cost.
The city can make calls to selective parts of the community or may do a “City Wide Call” to deliver various messages such as water outages in a given area, street repair projects along a certain street, and various other issues that may arise. In addition, the city may send an informational call reminding citizens of an upcoming event like park day, or a parade. On occasion a test call may be conducted simply to test the system and to remind everyone that we have it.
The numbers entered into this telephone data base are secure and the company does not sell, trade, lease, or provide the numbers to any other company. They will not be used for any advertisements and the numbers are not available to outside sources by the company. In other words, you do not have to worry about advertisement calls coming when you are sitting down to dinner.
An additional use of this the telephone system will be for the city to alert key employees during emergencies, such as calling off duty firefighters or police officers, or notifying all members of the staff should a major emergency occur.
The Office of Emergency Management has established a policy on the use of the system and what type of calls can be made and who is authorized to send out a call. In most cases the messages will have to be approved by a department head or the City Manager or the Assistant City Manager.
The company has captured all the published numbers for our citizens and the business community and has provided training for numerous staff members on how to utilize the system. Unfortunately, they can only capture published numbers! If you have an unlisted phone number, it will not be included, and you will NOT receive any calls. In addition, they cannot capture cellular telephone numbers or e-mail addresses. This decision is up to our citizens, and it is very easy to have these numbers added to the data base. Businesses with automated answering systems may also have difficulty receiving the calls and may need to add a specific number or cell number. Here is what you need to do.
For those citizens and businesses that would like to add other numbers, or their unlisted telephone number, a cellular telephone number, or an e-mail address online may click on the Connect CTY link below. That will take you to their secure data base and just follow the simple instructions on how to enter your numbers. Citizens can also have their information entered by contacting the Office of Emergency Management at (210) 653-9280.
liveoakalert.bbcportal.com/Entry
When a telephone call is made those individuals who have caller ID, the system will display City of Live Oak and the city’s primary telephone number (210) 653-9140. We hope the majority of the calls will be informational! In addition, all informational calls will be made at a convenient time, possibly in the early evenings between 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM. Calls relating to issues like water outages will have to be made as they occur, however NO calls will be made during the nighttime unless we have a very urgent message or an actual emergency.
We encourage all citizens and businesses to add other numbers, their unlisted numbers, cellular numbers, or e-mail addresses to the data base so you will not miss out on any important messages. If anyone has any questions regarding this telephone alerting system, please contact Rafael Luna, the Emergency Management Coordinator at (210) 653-9280, or email at rluna@liveoaktx.net.
What is the Connect-CTY service?
The Connect-CTY service allows authorized civic leaders to create and rapidly disseminate timesensitive 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 may be disseminated using the Connect-CTY service. Examples would include street closures, water outages, along with other issues that could impact the safety and the health and welfare of our citizens.
Does the Connect-CTY service replace other systems that have been used to provide timesensitive 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 Emergency Alert System for radio and TV will still be used along with the telephone Emergency Notification System will be used for actual emergency situations.
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 City Hall number: (210) 653-9140 - In addition, every message will begin with the same standard announcement: “Hello, this is ______ calling with an important message from the City of Live Oak”. 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 homeowner, what phone should be listed in the notification database?
For non-residents or owners who reside out of our 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 the Office of Emergency Management at (210) 653-9280 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 city notification calls at my fax or my secondary phone line. Can I switch to have the system call my primary phone number?
Yes. Please contact us at (210) 653-9280 to change the phone number in our notification database
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.
