Success Stories – City of San Luis Obispo

#Success Stories

City of San Luis Obispo

SendQuick server has proven to be a reliable messaging system by delivering the SMS (text) messages fast and accurate.

About City of San Luis Obispo

The City of San Luis Obispo serves as the commercial, governmental and cultural hub of California’s Central Coast. One of California’s oldest communities, it began with the founding of Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in 1772 by Father Junípero Serra as the fifth mission in the California chain of 21 missions. The mission was named after Saint Louis, a 13th Century Bishop of Toulouse, France.

( San Luis Obispo is Spanish for “ St. Louis, the Bishop”. ) It was first incorporated in 1856 as a General Law City, and became a Charter City in 1876. San Luis Obispo is a full-service city that provides police, fire, water, sewer, streets, transit, parking, planning, building, engineering and parks & recreation services to the community.

THE CHALLENGE

To recommend a system that would not only be complementary to the existing infrastructure of the fire department but also enhance the communication capabilities for a more eficient and reliable notification system, while maintaining a low capital investment.

When the Automatic Aid Agreement was amended, the Fire Chief requested notification when the Battalion Chief was dispatched outside the city limits. This change would pose a problem with the existing system they had because the Chief was looking for an automatic notification and not a manual response from the dispatcher. Also, being a government body, it is an important factor in keeping spending costs low.

THE SOLUTION

SendQuick Alert Plus

The recommended SendQuick Alert Plus server enables text messages (SMS) to be delivered even in the event where internet connectivity is lost. It supports all types of email alerts and has a message filtering system which sends out alerts based specifically on their level of urgency. With support for unlimited applications and devices, the integration of SendQuick® Alert Plus server offers a good return of investment for The City of San Luis Obispo Fire Department.

Simple to set up for integration with the digital  fire station alerting system, Microsoft Exchange email system and Uninterruptible Power Supplies system for prompt alert notications

Practical and effective solutions that can be explored further for deployment into other systems in different governing bodies.

The queue prioritization feature segregates the level of predetermined emergencies and propagates the notifications according to the respective recipients

THE RESULT

Improved communications efficiency with a highly stable and reliable system lead to increase in end user confidence and encourages future usage expansion

The SendQuick® Alert Plus server has provided an ideal solution to the identified issues by delivering spontaneous alerts to the fire chief and its deputy. This is because SMS messages get sent and read more instantaneously compared to email. With SMS, messages get across rapidly. Records of all communications are archived for referral purposes as and when required.

Due to the interoperability of the SendQuick® Alert Plus system, The City of San Luis Obispo Fire Department has identified the vast potential of the server and possibilities of implementing it with the myriad of systems available in other government bodies.

Miguel Guardado Network Services Supervisor, The City of San Luis Obispo

The introduction of the SendQuick® Alert Plus system was certainly an improvement to what it has preceded as it is aligned with our goals in achieving efficiency through responsiveness & effectiveness. As our emergency program strives at protecting life and property over swift responses during critical situations, the SendQuick® server has proven to be a reliable messaging system by delivering the SMS (text) messages fast and accurate. It comes as no surprise that the SendQuick® Alert Plus server has indeed been a boon to the overall operational functions of the Fire Department and we are looking forward to integrating it with other City Systems.