The Town of Olds is urging residents to get signed up for Voyent Alert to ensure they’re receiving personalized alerts in both critical emergencies and day-to-day situations.
Officials say the Voyent Alert system will serve as a multi-purpose tool to keep residents informed of a variety of subjects with an emphasis on “critical events” like fires or floods.
Town of Olds Director of Emergency Management and Deputy Fire Chief Stephanie Bibault says the service will provide a more direct and personalized way to provide crucial information to residents, which is especially important given the wildfire risk going into the summer.
“You will automatically get the Alberta Emergency Alert- that’s the big sound alert, but the Voyent Alert will give you further directions, in a more English language way,” she says. “It can give you information on closed roads, utility disruptions, garbage pickup, town events even, and on the other side of things- emergency and disaster notifications, it can keep you up to date.”
Users of the notification system can opt to be notified by one or all of the different communication channels: text, email, voice call, or directly to their device through the Voyent Alert app, which Bibault says will help to streamline communications and reduce notification fatigue, especially during emergencies.
“If you live in a block and say we have a gas leak in this area and we need to protect a place- we can draw a geo fence around your area and you will only get that notification, so we’re trying to alleviate any possibility of notification fatigue,” she says. “It is a tried and true system, and a lot of towns are going to it, and even in our age of population, there’s still landline use, so it can call you at your house if you don’t have social media,
Bibault indicates the Town of Olds is preparing for a “big push” this June to get residents signed up.
