TFCC Conducts Emergency Evacuation Phone Calls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2007

Columbus, Ohio:  Trumbull County (Ohio) used Twenty First Century’s Universal Communications System (UCS) to alert citizens to a hazardous condition caused by a natural gas leak.

The Trumbull County 911 Center performed two emergency notification campaigns to residents in the affected area, at 6:30 a.m. and 6:51 a.m.

An automated message announced that an accident had caused the natural gas leak. It included an order to evacuate to the Vienna Fire Station on Route 193. The message instructed those needing evacuation assistance to call 911.

The County called on Twenty First Century’s 24/7/365 toll-free Help Desk for assistance in creating and sending these messages.

The Help Desk created Trumbull County’s notifications using a “Text-to-Speech” tool, which automatically converts typed text into computerized human voice to convey the message.

The Help Desk then used the UCS GIS-mapping program to define the affected area on an online map of Trumbull County. The UCS system automatically generated a list of corresponding phone numbers. When Help Desk personnel activated the campaign, UCS began calling those numbers immediately.

Twenty First Century’s UCS system was also used to send evacuation notices for San Diego County during the October wildfires. This was the most extensive emergency notification in that county to date.

TFCC is proud to support Trumbull County’s Emergency Response efforts. Trumbull County has been a client of the Universal Communications System since July 2004.

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