City scraps Vernon Connect, looking for new mass notification system

May 31, 2022 | 5:00 AM

In the event of emergency situations, Vernon residents will be receiving notifications from a new source.

The City of Vernon is terminating the Connect Vernon app, as it is at the end of it’s three-year operating life and has had a number of issues pop up in the past few years.

Christy Poirier, the communications and grants manager for the city, told council on Monday, that the Vernon Connect mobile app was developed in partnership with the Regional District of North Okanagan in 2018, thanks to grant funding the RDNO had secured.

The app provided information on community cultural events in Vernon and the North Okanagan region, and also linked users to the City of Vernon’s website.

Additionally, the app had an alert banner that would coincide with an alert banner on the city’s website that could be activated in the event of an emergency.

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However, the app had some troubles over the years, including inconsistent updates, notifications to users and access to new information.

The city spent more money to try and remedy these issues, but they continued to persist.

With the Connect Vernon app’s three-year commitment coming to an end, the city is looking at finding a new, third-party system to notify people of emergency situations in their community, as local government has an important role to play in keeping people informed.

“When a large-scale emergency happens, our residents, our businesses, our visitors are turning to the city in order to provide clear, concise, timely and effective information almost immediately, and they’re looking for a source of reliable information,” said Poirier.

“In the absence of information being provided by a reliable source, by an official source, misinformation or misunderstanding can spread very quickly, and of course we know that can impact emergency response efforts in a very negative way.”

In order to provide the crucial information in a timely manner, Poirier recommended using a third-party mass notification system to establish a point-in-time communication channel from the city to residents when evacuation orders or shelter in place orders are issued. These communications would be sent via push notifications through a free-to-use mobile app, email, SMS/Text, linked social media channels, online website notifications, home smart speakers and more.

Poirier said a system like this will allow for immediate delivery of critical information.

“We don’t have to wait for [someone] to open their email, we don’t have to wait for them to just happen to check social media channels and that sort of thing,” said Poirier.

“We can reach out to them at a specific point in time and say ‘There’s an emergency, here’s the information that you need and here’s the action that you need to take.'”

She added, in the event of a critical notification like an evacuation order rather than alert, the platform would also provide a specific tone or sound to notify users of a bigger issue that needs immediate action.

The service would need to be free to use but would be subscription based and require permission, meaning the user would need to have an app on their device or through signing in to a website in order to receive the message from the City of Vernon.

Poirier added communities that use the same platforms to inform people of emergency situations will allow Vernonites to learn of emergencies in those other communities when visiting those areas, and vice versa.

She said work is underway with surrounding jurisdictions to find a platform that can meet their needs and allow for cross-community uses.

In addition to this app, the city would continue to use it’s social media profiles, media releases, email notifications and announcements on the city’s website to inform people of emergencies.

The purchase and set up of the presently unnamed app is expected to have a one-time cost of $5,000, and will require an ongoing subscription of $3,200 annually.

It’s expected that the full implementation of the program with trained staff would be mid-July.

Councillor Scott Anderson said having this service in place would be a “no brainer,” but did ask Poirier if there were alternative systems in place for informing people of an emergency in the event that digital services go down or to provide information to people who do not use electronic devices. She told council that they have in the past handed out physical flyers to people, and that the RCMP and Search and Rescue members can go door to door informing people of emergencies in those rare situations.

Council voted unanimously in favour of using a third-party provider for the new mass notification system.

Additionally, with the Vernon Connect app being terminated, users are recommended to use the cit’s website to find information or contact forms, as the site is compatible with mobile devices.

Poirier also noted that, once staff is trained in the use of the new system, the app could be used to inform people of road closures, construction advisories, snow removal, or other service changes within the city.

by Liam Verster

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