Free Tool for Gov't Agencies to Communicate Public Safety Alerts Online or Via SMS
A new SMS and email notification service is helping local government agencies reach citizens when and where it will do the most good: As soon as possible, and wherever that citizen happens to be.
Depending on whether agencies in a selected location are participating (currently, nearly 1,000 agencies have signed on since the company's launch in March), users can sign up at the Nixle website to subscribe to emails, web alerts, and text messages about community issues from tornado watches and traffic accidents to local robberies and fugitives on the loose. Nixle moreover provides a painless way for local agencies to transition into modern times and notify community members of critical details in ways that will have an immediate impact.
"Any tool that helps us improve public safety is worth using," Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel is quoted as saying in a Nixle press release. "People rarely go anywhere these days without access to a cell phone or the Internet. With Nixle, we're always able to relay important information, thereby improving the community's quality of life."
Users can add as many locations as they like to receive alerts for different areas; for example, I know of several female relatives who would be more than happy to know of police alerts in the various towns I travel to and worry/overreact accordingly.
Users can also choose which kinds of alerts to receive and what on medium they prefer to receive them.
Nixle claims to be the first authenticated, secure service for connecting municipal agencies and community organizations to residents in real time. It uses the Google Maps API to determine and display location and proximity. The company is privately funded and its services are free to all governments, government agencies and organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and end users.
As geographic location and proximity become more and more relevant to users and the wealth of information about locations increases, applications such as Nixle seem like the next logical step in law enforcement and public safety. It's great that these alerts are available in real time; it would also be great to see a Brightkite-esque "check-in" process made available for users. For example, if I'm at a friend's house and a store down the street is robbed, it would be great to have the information and know to stay safely inside for a little while.
Then again, real-time availability of information is just as useful as location-based information, particularly when issues of public safety are involved.
What do our readers think? Is a real-time, geo-specific alert system the future of law enforcement? Or is it creepy, Big Brother, Minority Report territory?
Facebook
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
It would be a great idea to have geographic location taken into consideration in this alert. I might be interested in the alerts for my home location but I am always interested in safety info about places I visit. The downsides I see with this is that it requires me to add my places of interest and it also requires the authorities at that location to sign up to do this. It would be great if this information could be federated from existing channels of emergency broadcasts.
The need is certainly there! Here's another method to consider in How local broadcasters can use Twitter to create a global alert system
I think this tools can help to improve public safety, depending on the way this information is managed. Maybe a tool like this should be ruled by government offices, and not by private firms. And the reports of risks must be always official reports.
We have a similar debate in Argentina, not solved yet. Because the "Big Brother Ghost" is always a risk...
Very good article, interesting issue.
AT&T's codespear was supposed to accomplish this.
Very very interesting tool. I really like it. BUT, I do wonder if it has the power to change anything, and thus, does it have any sustainability? i.e. it's a neat service, positioned well for the municipality, but may not be radical enough.
Posted by: PaulSweeney
|
June 21, 2009 1:10 AM
Very nice idea, well I guess it's just about time to use these kind of online communication right?
The beauty of Nixle is that it’s completely customizable and very user-friendly. Any user can pick and choose what information they want and over what devices they want to receive it.
It is really very interesting tool and very good article
Amazing tool, As Technology Goes To New Heights its an good tool for communicating.
Great Example of Secure and useful tool.