Twenty First Century Communications made the critical calls in San Diego
County
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- These phone calls, numbering in
the hundreds of thousands, went out to residents of San Diego County who
were affected by the wildfires.
TFCC's automated Universal Communications System (UCS) sends recorded
messages to phone numbers en masse, listed and unlisted, in various
geographically defined calling areas. If the system gets a busy signal, it
can keep ringing until someone, or at least an answering machine, picks up
the call.
Early this week, the automated notifications provided evacuation
announcements and instructions, a critical piece of California's proactive
coordinated disaster response efforts.
On Monday, October 22, TFCC performed seven different "geo-targeted"
alerting campaigns, beginning around 7 p.m. local time with notifications
to plan for precautionary evacuation. Voluntary and mandatory evacuation
notices followed, advising residents of different areas to go to the Del
Mar Fairgrounds, the Plaza Camino Real Shopping Center, and to Qualcomm
Stadium.
By noon on Tuesday, 394,915 calls had been made to San Diego County
households, the most extensive emergency notification in the county to
date.
Emergency alerts make all the difference in San Diego
Four years ago this week, the worst wildfires in California's history
burned nearly 750,000 acres, destroyed 3,600 homes and other buildings, and
killed 24 people across Southern California, with much of the damage and
more than a dozen of the deaths in San Diego County.
At the time, there were complaints that residents received little
warning about the deadly blaze.
This week many San Diego area residents and local officials have
reported that the response has been much more effective than in 2003. The
evacuations have been successful and significant loss of life was prevented
-- due to the use of the emergency telephone notification system.
The technology is being highly touted from San Diego to Sacramento.
Twenty First Century is proud to be the provider of that system.
"Twenty First Century provides crisis notification services to cities
and counties all over the United States. It is rewarding to know that, from
here in Columbus, we can make a difference for the people affected by
disaster," says James Kennedy, president of Twenty First Century
Communications.
Emergency notification in action
On September 29, 2006, UCS was used in Frankfort, KY to alert a
neighborhood to a missing child and abductor spotted in their area. The
child was safely recovered and the kidnapper apprehended within 20 minutes
of the alert. See http://www.tfcci.com/page8156.cfm.
TFCC provides on-campus alerting to the biggest school in the Big Ten.
This fall, the Ohio State University introduced "Buckeye Alerts," which
sends users a text message in the case of an emergency. Students, parents,
OSU faculty and staff, and campus businesses can sign up through a
voluntary Web site operated by the Ohio State Department of Public Safety.
TFCC's Universal Communications System (UCS) was installed in 2004 by
the Ohio State University and the Franklin County Emergency Management
Agency. After installing UCS, the county performed a test of the system,
successfully calling over 38,000 residents in a 15 minute period. See
http://www.tfcci.com/page9786.cfm.
Serving Diverse Mission Critical Clients
Twenty First Century Communications was founded in Columbus in 1989, by
Mr. James Kennedy. The company is dedicated to critical communications,
serving many public safety and emergency management agencies nationwide,
including San Diego and Riverside Counties and Santa Clarita, California.
TFCC has contracts with 137 municipalities, including the Clark
Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA), the area surrounding Mt. St.
Helen's in Vancouver, WA, the Washington, D.C. EMA. Twenty First Century's
technology is the choice of the Federal Reserve, the General Services
Administration (GSA), and the U.S. House of Representatives.
TFCC operated the 1-877-LOVED1s hotline for the American Red Cross
after hurricane Katrina, handling over 380,000 calls and helping to reunite
over 40,000 displaced friends and family members.
For more information please visit Twenty First Century online
http://www.tfcci.com or call 800-382-8356.
SOURCE Twenty First Century Communications
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Related links:
http://www.tfcci.com
CONTACT:
Ellen Grevey of Twenty First Century
Communications, +1-614-442-1215, ext. 262, ellen.grevey@tfcci.com
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