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Birmingham City Council uses multi-channel messaging for mass notification
Birmingham City Council, the most populated local authority in the UK, has introduced a new Birmingham Community Alert messaging service to warn its residents and workers about emergency incidents from flooding and power failures, to major road closures, health risks and evacuations.
The free service, run by the Birmingham Resilience Team, is based on the multi-channel Horizon platform from HTK, a leading UK provider of public mass notification solutions.
Using HTK Horizon's geographical mapping and multi-channel communications capabilities, the Birmingham Community Alert service automatically sends emergency messages based on postcode area, by email, SMS text, automated voice calls to mobile phone or landlines, pager or fax. Residents sign up for the free service and select their preferred methods of contact. To register for text alerts, they can simply send an SMS to 83118 with the word ALERT followed by a Birmingham postcode. Two further locations can be added such as a work address and a relative or friend.
"Rapid delivery of information to as many people as possible is critical in emergencies to protect and reassure the public and manage the incident," said Councillor Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council - whose portfolio covers emergency planning. "HTK Horizon makes it easy for Birmingham residents to stay informed by choosing the best way for them to receive alerts and makes sure that accurate and timely information is delivered automatically to the people affected."
"With responsibility for the UK's second largest city and over one million people, Birmingham City Council is pioneering the delivery of vital public warning and information services," said Marlon Bowser, CEO, HTK. "HTK Horizon harnesses the latest mapping and communications technologies to provide automated message alerts across the length and breadth of the authority in an instant, day or night."
Hear from Glen Curry of the Birmingham Resilience Team here.
