DELAWARE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

1
DELAWARE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION
SYSTEM

• D E N S

2
DENS Overview

• Purpose
• Background Acquisition
• Partnerships/Working Group
• System Capabilities
• Activation Protocol
• Accounts and Administrators
• Outreach and Testing
• Recent Enhancement

3
Purpose

• Primary purpose is the automated telephone
  notification of the public in the event of an
  emergency, which may adversely affect the health,
  safety, and welfare of Delaware citizens.
• Secondary purpose is the notification of
  predetermined groups by pager or telephone.

4
Background Acquisition

• Developed Strategy
• Assembled Working Group
• Finalized system specifications
• Developed R-f-P
• Selected Vendor (FIRSTCALL Interactive, Baton
  Rouge, Louisiana)
• Implemented System - Sept 2003

5
Partnerships/Working Grp

• DelDOT
• DEMA
• State Planning Off.
• DNREC
• Dept. Safety H.S.
• Dept. Tech Info
• State Fire School
• DE State Police

• Div of Spt Svs Cont.
• Div of Pubic Health
• Dvr Air Force Base
• County Governmts
• Private Industry
• Public Service Com.
• Verizon Tel. Liaison

6
System Capabilities

• Activation
• FIRSTCALL Operator assisted
• Center is staffed 7/24/365 by a live operator
• Virtual Private Network (remote internet access)
• System can be activated using any touch tone
  phone
• Telephone Data
• Dedicated digital circuits (38 T1s carrying 912
  circuits)
• Deliver 13,500 msg in 10 minutes
• Messaging
• Mapping
• Registration

7
Activation Protocol

• Detailed in Users Guide
• Activation Decision
• Is it an emergency? (unexpected, serious, prompt
  action required, i.e. evacuate,
  shelter-in-place).
• Are lives at risk or is there a significant
  threat to public health or safety?
• Is there a possibility of great property damage?

8
Activation Protocol (cont.)ACTIVATION FLOW
9
Accounts Administrators

• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
• Detailed users guide
• Account numbers and passwords
• Independent account billing
• Account customization
• Periodic training and meetings

10
Outreach and Testing

• Initial
• Advertised
• Tested 14,000 numbers statewide
• Periodic
• Sep 2005 ads and testing
• Every 6 months

11
Recent Enhancements

• DENS Information Line
• 877 DENS Msg (877-336-7674)
• Dedicated inbound lines
• Allows for secure messaging via ID
• Provides report of call backs
• FirstCall On-line
• Edit fixed list
• Listen to stored messages
• View previous reports
• View in-progress activation

12
DENS Summary

• Purpose
• Background Acquisition
• Partnerships/Working Group
• System Capabilities
• Activation Protocol
• Accounts and Administrators
• Outreach and Testing
• Recent Enhancement

13
DELAWARE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION
SYSTEM

• QUESTIONS

14
Background Acquisition

• Gov Office - Aug 01
• Strategy/specs. Jan 02
• Funding/Wk Grp May 02
• Gov. Office Appr Oct 02
• R-f-P distributed Jan 03
• FIRSTCALL May 03
• DENS initial testing Sep 2003

• Developed Strategy
• Assembled Working Group
• Finalized system specifications
• Developed R-f-P
• Selected Vendor (FIRSTCALL Interactive, Baton
  Rouge, Louisiana)
• Implemented System - Sept 2003