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Calabasas
City-to-Resident Notification System
Connect-CTY™
is our city-to-resident communications service. With Connect-CTY™,
our administrators can send periodic and personalized voice messages
to residents within minutes. The Connect-CTY™
service will be used to complement our emergency preparedness
procedures and to inform residents of pressing and important issues
such as emergencies and community surveys. More information about
Connect-CTY™ may be found at
www.blackboardconnectcty.com.
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Frequently Asked
Questions
What is the Connect-CTY service?
The Connect-CTY
service allows
authorized civic leaders to create and rapidly disseminate
time-sensitive 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 would be disseminated using the Connect-CTY
service.
Examples would include severe weather warnings
and updates, hazardous traffic or road conditions inside the
city or affecting local routes, and any other situation that
could impact the safety, property, or welfare of our citizens.
Does the Connect-CTY service replace other
systems that have been used to provide time-sensitive information to
residents?
This
system is a significant enhancement to existing means of
communication and is replacement for the emergency call systems
we have used in the past.
The
call-in information line (818) 224-1600,
will still be available. Also, TV and our city web site will
continue to broadcast important announcements.
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 Blackboard Connect. Blackboard
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. Blackboard Connect CTY only utilizes secure transmissions
with its customers. No confidential information is ever
transmitted between Blackboard 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.
Blackboard
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 city using the system?
The caller-ID number for calls generated by the
Connect-CTY
service will be the same as the City Hall
number: (818) 224-1600.
In addition, every message will begin with the same standard
announcement: “Hello, this is Chief ______ calling with an
important message from the City of Calabasas ”. 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
city’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 home or condominium owner,
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 our city hall at
(818) 224-1600 to provide us with that information.
Do I need to add a suite number
or apartment number to my address entry?
When adding
address information to the system, it is not necessary to add a
suite or apartment number to the
system. Mail will not be sent based on
addresses entered into the system and
address information is only used if
calls need to be sent to specific
geographic areas within the City.
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
(818) 224-1600 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.
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