Anaheim to begin mobile alert system

Residents, visitors and workers will be able to receive text message alerts about Anaheim.

Traffic updates, utility interruptions and city events will soon be coming to a mobile phone near you.

The City Council unanimously approved at its last meeting a contract with Cooper Notification to provide a mobile messaging system for the city. The city will pay $79,500 a year for the service that will allow residents, workers and visitors the ability to receive alerts from the city via cell phones and e-mail.

Residents can sign up for the system by sending a text message to "311ANA" when the program begins later this year. There is no fee for registering, but standard rates apply through cell phone carriers.

Cooper Notification was the lowest bidder, at $79,500 a year. The other bidders were: Plant CML bidding at $128,300 a year and Connect CTY bidding at $288,433 a year.

Cooper Notification's branch, called Roam Secure, Inc., manages the text-alerting program. The system was used for the Washington, D.C., metro region after 9-11 to improve first responder communication, interoperability and public warning, according to Roam Secure. Roam Secure systems delivered more than 22 million alert messages last year during all-hazards incidents and major disasters, according to the company.

This text messaging-alert system is part of the city's "Anaheim Anytime" program that currently allows for requests or questions to the city through its Web site, www.anaheim.net. The plan includes a 3-1-1 non-emergency information hotline launched in 2007 to give residents and businesses another link to City Hall.

When 311 launches, customer service representatives, in English or Spanish, take calls from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. After-hours callers can still get information on popular topics or find out the status of personal requests. Cell phone users are able to use 3-1-1 by dialing 714-765-4311.