Utah Alerts?

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N7YUO

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I no longer receive alerts.
And I discovered I can no longer send alerts.
So, are we going to have alerts again?
 

bneilson

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Hey guys. The service we were using to Utah Alerts shut down. This has been a common problem over the years.

The challenge is allowing multiple people to send tweets from a central account without giving out that accounts credentials.

Twitter does have a solution (Tweet Deck) but it required you to log into the website (no mobile access) each time you want to send something. In testing it did not seem like a viable option.

I am open to ideas and suggestions. I personally have found the services we have used over the years and have had a very difficult time finding one now. If you have ideas or suggestions on how we can get tweets flowing again I am all ears.
 

KD7DDC

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As part of my online dispatch tool I am hoping to find a way we can have it post alerts on Twitter. I'm off the next few days so will be working on it some. The eventual goal is also an app but that's further out.

Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk
 

LGLHOOK

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I too have been trying to come up with a solution since you and I talked Brett, I have asked around but come up with the same endings as everyone else, short of posting it somewhere in the RR forums to see what format everyone else is using nationwide. I am not very tech savy on Twitter, since I don't post tweets, I only post to the Alerts via text and follow the good ones. Thanks Brett for taking your time to try and help us get these working.
 

KD7DDC

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My solution is currently working. I did some tests yesterday posting to my Twitter. There is a possibility of 15 minutes delay but it works. Would just need to connect it to the Utah Alerts.

I also set a password protected dispatch form so others can send them as well.

Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk
 

KD7DDC

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Ok I have my dispatch tool working now. You can view the Utah Alerts Dispatch Log and it currently will be posting to my @KC7NEC Twitter for now.

Now that I think it is working well I am taking "applications" for dispatchers. Basically, I just don't want to give the password to the dispatch form to everyone or post it in public. Also if you plan to dispatch please be sure to get familiar with the Dispatch Codes

Send me a PM if interested in Dispatching Alerts
 

N7YUO

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Dispatching Alerts?

Here's my opinion on alert dispatching, not to disparage NC7NEC.
I prefer alerts that are brief and to-the-point.
Examples: Fire 2AL Davis Ops 5, SAR Big Cotwd Cnyn UPD tac 1,
Persuit SL Regional, Hazmat at Thatcher Chem SLC Fire 2

Here is a copy of a dispatch from NC7NEC:
11/6/2018 11:02 - LD54,BC51,EN52,EN126 | 7199 S 100 W |
69-D-5 | Priority 1 - Structure Fire | VECC 5 |
Working fire notifications made. Header seen on enroute.

I have sent lots of Utah Alerts over the years, and almost
all of them sent from my phone.
When I hear an incident, I don't have the time to send that much
information from my phone.
When receiving alerts, much of that information is unnecessary.
Why would we need to learn dispatch codes?

It reminds me of my brief membership with the
National Incident Notification Network (NINN).
If I wanted to report an incident, I had to provide:
State, County, City, Agency, Type of incident, Physical address,
Frequencies used, and use only appoved abbreviations.
So "SAR Big Cotwd Cnyn UPD Tac 1" would get rejected.

Just my personal opinion.
I welcome your responses.
 
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bneilson

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Hey, I was a dispatcher for IPN for a short time as well. The main issue I had was the quota to send so many alerts a month or you were cut off.

To me, the point of Utah Alerts is to basically say "hey, there is something cool going on on this talk group". I don't care for play-by-play but do occasionally like to see major escalations so if I wasn't swayed by the first alert perhaps the escalation will get me to tune in.

I tend not to like codes as they are not universal. NIMS actually encourages clear speech so I also try to follow that. Also by using clear text, I can use voice recognition to send the info.

I feel alerts should be fast and easy to send and easily understood by others.
 

N7YUO

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When sending alerts here in Utah
any abbreviations I use should be
universally understood.
SLC, SLCo WVC UPD UFA UHP BYU
SAR, UofU, SWAT
Some places require more than initials:
Davis Weber Orem Tooele Ci, Tooele Co
Cnyn, Brigam Ci,
You get the idea. The point is to quickly say:
hey, there is something cool going on on this talk group.
 

KD7DDC

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I take your comments fairly. The "dispatch tool" I have created was a afterthought based on my station and apparatus database. The main reason it's currently configured this way is ease of posting for my self. I can post a complex message with 4 button presses and no typing. I can always adapt more "plain language" but will need to work out some of the backend stuff to keep it still functioning in the system.

Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk
 

LGLHOOK

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West Valley City, Utah
I agree, I also have sent a ton of alerts over the years and 99.5% of mine was also from my cell phone on the fly through my text messages. I very rarely can log into a computer to "dispatch" an alert. By the time you could log on, go through the dispatch and send it out, the incident would be over. I am thankful for you guys who have over the years put those secondary programs in place to make it easier on us all to have access to quickly throw out an alert via text cause I am not savy on all that other computer stuff. I don't tweet other than the old alerts, I only have twitter to follow such info. Thanks for everyone's efforts, I really do miss sending and receiving the Utah Alerts.
 

bneilson

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Hey Everybody,

Just wanted to let you know that we have completed testing with the UtahAlerts twitter account and I am happy to report that it went really well.

To help keep alerts flowing we have entered into an agreement with GroupTweet to allow us to use their service at a discounted price. The GroupTweet service is a great option for us allowing multiple people to send alerts from a single Twitter account.

Funding for the GroupTweet service is being provided by the non-profit Salt Lake County Auxiliary Communication Team (slcoact.org).

If you would like to help support UtahAlerts and the Salt Lake County Auxiliary Communication Team, you can make a donation at their website.
 

911Warrior

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Hey, I was a dispatcher for IPN for a short time as well. The main issue I had was the quota to send so many alerts a month or you were cut off.

To me, the point of Utah Alerts is to basically say "hey, there is something cool going on on this talk group". I don't care for play-by-play but do occasionally like to see major escalations so if I wasn't swayed by the first alert perhaps the escalation will get me to tune in.

I tend not to like codes as they are not universal. NIMS actually encourages clear speech so I also try to follow that. Also by using clear text, I can use voice recognition to send the info.

I feel alerts should be fast and easy to send and easily understood by others.

I agree the alert posts should be fast and easy to understand. I am looking to set something up similar to IPN. What kind of compensation did you receive? Thanks. John
 

bneilson

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I agree the alert posts should be fast and easy to understand. I am looking to set something up similar to IPN. What kind of compensation did you receive? Thanks. John

It was a free subscription to the service. But since I was virtually the only Dispatcher in my area it really wasn't worth it. Now that UtahAlerts is working again, things are flowing well
 
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