Austin County Implements Connect-CTY Service to Keep Residents Safe and Informed

Implementation of Communication Service Part of County’s Efforts to Enhance Emergency Preparedness and Communication with Residents

AUSTIN COUNTY, TX – Austin County announced its selection of the Connect-CTY™ communication service from The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI) and soon will be conducting its first county-wide test. Austin County has implemented Connect-CTY to provide county emergency officials with the ability to periodically and personally communicate with all residents regarding time-sensitive matters, such as unforeseen events or emergencies. 

The Connect-CTY service allows emergency officials to send and track personalized voice messages to thousands of residents, businesses, and local officials in just minutes, through a single phone call. The service requires no additional hardware; it can be used from any computer with Internet access or telephone. This ensures that emergency officials can send out vital messages from wherever he or she is located during an emergency. The county can also keep track of how many and which numbers were reached with a report on the results of outgoing messages that is sent to county administrators immediately upon availability.

“Spreading important notifications to all residents living in rural Austin County areas was virtually impossible with our previous methods of communication, which consisted of TV, radio, and going door-to-door,” said Carolyn Bilski, Austin County Judge and Emergency Management Director. “Connect-CTY has given us the ability to inform everyone immediately, making us a small county with big town technology.” 

Primary residential and business phones in Austin County will be automatically included in the system. However, residents must opt-in to have their e-mail address, cell phone and private phone numbers included for emergency notifications by visiting the Austin County Web site (www.austincounty.com) and clicking on the link that says “SIGN UP NOW – SERVICES BY CONNECT-CTY” to enter additional information into the secure database, or click here to download form.