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Stamford, Connecticut—Tuesday, April 29, 2008—Mayor Dannel P. Malloy announced today the City of Stamford has selected the Connect-CTY® mass notification service from Blackboard Connect Inc. (formerly known as The NTI Group, Inc.), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB). The City will conduct its first community wide test call on Thursday, May 1, 2008. Stamford has implemented the Connect-CTY service to provide City officials with the ability to communicate with residents regarding time sensitive incidents that may include planned and unforeseen public safety matters. The Connect-CTY service allows officials to record, send and track personalized voice messages to thousands of residents, businesses and local agencies in just minutes, through a single phone call. The City can also send text messages to cell phones, PDAs, e-mail accounts and TTY/TDD receiving devices for the hearing impaired. The service requires no additional hardware; it can be used from any computer with Internet access or just a telephone, ensuring that officials can send vital messages from wherever they are located. "We're always looking for ways to improve communication with residents and are excited to now have the capability to send important notifications within a matter of minutes," said the Mayor. "The Connect-CTY service will enhance City wide communication and play a key role in our emergency preparedness and response efforts." City administrators can target messages to an unlimited number of groups – everything from mobilizing emergency response teams to coordinating efforts with necessary agencies or volunteers- Authorized users also can use a map on the Connect-CTY system to contact specific geographical locations, sending messages only to the residents within select neighborhoods when needed. "With the Connect-CTY service, we will be able to quickly notify residents in the event of a natural or man made disaster, such as a chemical leak, fire or severe storm," said Bill Callion, Director of Public Safety, Health and Welfare. "I urge residents to register their contact information into the system's secure database to make sure everyone is prepared to receive time sensitive information." Publicly available primary residential and business phone numbers in Stamford will automatically be included in the system. However, residents can opt-in to provide their complete information (up to three phone numbers and two e-mail addresses) and indicate if they have a TTY/TDD device by visiting the City of Stamford website (www.cityofstamford.org) and clicking on the link that says "SIGN UP NOW – SERVICES BY CONNECT-CTY" to enter their information into the secure database. Those without Internet access can have their information added into the system by calling 977-4153. Residents with call blocking services can make sure to receive the City's time sensitive calls by adding 977-4140 to their approved number list. "The best way to keep residents informed, and therefore, safe is through communication, and the Connect-CTY service makes it easy," said Brendan Cotter, Managing Director, Connect-CTY. "With the Connect-CTY service, administrators have a powerful tool for mass communication without having to purchase new computers, software and telephone lines," Stamford will be conducting its first test call on Thursday, May 1, 2008 in order to ensure residents are aware of the program and can provide correct phone numbers and e-mail addresses should they not receive the test message. If residents do not receive the call, they should visit the City's website at wvvw.cit-vofstamford.org and click on the "SIGN UP NOW – SERVICES BY CONNECT-CTY" link to enter their contact information. Residents without Internet access can have their information added into the database by calling 977-4153. For more information on the Connect-CTY system, please contact the company at (818) 808-1789. Additional Information about the Connect-CTY Service The Connect CTYQD service is provided by Blackboard Connect Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB). The service was created specifically for local and regional government leaders based upon the award winning Connect platform. The service can be used to send targeted, time sensitive voice and text messages to landlines, cell phones, PDAs, e-mail addresses, pagers, TTY/TDD receiving devices, and other text receiving devices and is compliant with the Common Alerting Protocol v. 1.1 (CAP-V1.1). The Connect platform is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that has been in service since early 2001 and includes the Connect-F.DS, Connect-CTY, Connect GOVO, and Connect-MILO systems. In 2007, the Connect platform was used by over 20,500 active sites to send over 240 million voice calls and over 17 million e-mail and SMS messages to constituents. © Copyright by StamfordPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of StamfordPlus.com, Stamford Plus magazine, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar. Related Articles: Governor Rell urges House of Representatives to ease gas price spikes - May 13, 2008 - 1:22:08 PM Sen. Duff, Rep. Barry deliver mortgage relief - May 7, 2008 - 4:59:24 PM High Ridge Park awarded regional “TOBY” award from BOMA - May 6, 2008 - 7:12:52 AM Mayor announces successful launch of Connect-CTY emergency preparedness and communication system - May 2, 2008 - 11:26:31 AM CURRENT HEADLINES: Top of Page
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