Nebraska City Puts Computer Screen Pop Ups To Good Use
Lincoln, Neb., and surrounding Lancaster County are developing a next-generation system for delivering emergency public warnings directly to citizens’ PCs.
The city and county have created a PC-based emergency alert system that is designed to provide residents with instant alerts of the coming of severe weather, state Amber Alerts of missing children, as well as emergencies signaled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or other state and local officials.
The notification will arrive at participants’ desktops in just seconds, says Terry Lowe, systems project manager of Lincoln’s Information Services Division. The alert software will be available for residents to download from Lincoln’s Web site, and an icon will appear on a computer user’s taskbar or desktop when it is installed.
Residents will hear a warning sound when an emergency is declared, and a pop-up screen will appear explaining the type of emergency, and updates will scroll along the bottom of the screen. Also, residents who have Palm-based devices and Web-enabled cell phones will be able to receive the instant alerts.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Government Technology Online (03/03).