If you’ve heard about the computer program “Twitter” but aren’t sure what it is, take note: the 150-year-old town of Weehawken is embracing the new technology to update residents via computer about issues like water main breaks and town functions, but they’re also about to implement a more traditional phone calling system for emergencies.
Emergency notification system
One of Weehawken’s recent communications technology improvements is a notification system that can call every Weehawken resident within 15 minutes in the event of an emergency.
At the most recent Town Council meeting on April 17, Giovanni Ahmad, a webmaster and IT Administrator, eagerly presented information regarding a system that the town is about to test out.
Through a partnership between Verizon and a company called Global Connect, a company specializing in voicemail and emergency notification systems, Weehawken will be able to keep resident contact information on file and divide it by zones. If an emergency occurs in a specific zone of Weehawken, only the residents in that area will be contacted.
“It’s part of our goal to keep residents informed on things that affect their daily lives,” said Jeff Welz, Weehawken’s director of public safety, last week. “Less urgent information that affects the lives of residents will be [disseminated] during business hours; for example, if the road is being paved.”
Some messages can be left on voice mail.
Officials said the contact information on file would be kept private. Only Verizon would know to whom the phone numbers belong. During an emergency, contacts on the private list could be reached.
“Each message will include a number to call if they need additional information,” said Welz.
The system has other features. For example, not only is it capable of reaching residents via a phone call, text message, or e-mail, but it can also determine if it was able to reach a live person, or if it should try again and call back a few minutes later.
Town Council members seemed impressed by the new advancement when it was explained at a recent meeting. Currently, Weehawken has no system in place to contact residents in the event of an emergency. Ahmad described the current system as “a police patrol car with a bullhorn going street by street.”
Welz, who was not at the meeting, said last week, “In the past, we went out with loud speakers on police cars or passed out fliers.”
Officials are now preparing to test the system.
What is Twitter?
Meanwhile, the town has already begun using Twitter, a free internet service that allows users to post brief updates about their status and whereabouts. These updates are known as “Tweets.” They are 140 characters or less and can be sent out via the Twitter website, via a cell phone text message, or via external applications such as those found on social networking websites like Facebook and Myspace.
Some notable Twitter users are Pres. Barack Obama, Britney Spears, and the American Red Cross.
The township first began twittering on April 11, 2009. As of April 28, they had sent three updates to eight followers. The updates informed the public about street paving on Boulevard East, The Lincoln Tunnel run/walk challenge, and an Easter egg hunt.
The username for the official Weehawken township Twitter feed is: Weehawkennj. To view the township’s updates, simply log on to: http://www.twitter.com/weehawkennj.
New phone system
The third improvement the township is making to their communication technologies is the upgrading of their Town Hall phone system. It will provide the township a few additional phone extensions and is scheduled to be up and running by May 18, according to Ahmad.
James Marchetti, township manager, noted, “We are still finalizing the details.”
Melissa Rappaport can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com.