The Communications and Community Outreach department recommends approval of Contract 2020-0498-AC to OnSolve, LLC, for hosting and managing the City of Plano’s emergency and mass communication system.
The emergency and mass communication service solution sends critical and emergency messages to internal and external subscribers. The City of Plano currently uses the CodeRED system, originally owned by Emergency Communications Network (ECN), for emergency and mass communication services. ECN provided functionality that enabled the public to self-subscribe and self-identify the type of messages to be received, and in what manner (email, phone or text) using the CodeRED system. OnSolve later acquired ECN.
Our current system is branded Plano City Call, and is available to the public via plano.gov/CityCall. It is primarily used by the Communications and Community Outreach, Emergency Management, Environmental Health and Sustainability, Police, and Public Safety Communications (9-1-1) departments. It is also used by some departments for mass employee notifications and call-outs of specific groups as needed for an incident response (e.g. - Police Emergency Services Unit). Some incident examples include:
-
Missing / Abducted Child
- Missing Elderly
- Chemical Spills / HAZMAT Emergencies / Gas Leaks
- Evacuation
- Crime related situation causing an immediate threat to a specific area
- Public Health Concerns
- Flooding (excluding flash flooding)
- Drinking Water Contamination
- Street Closing due to Emergency Conditions
- Utility or Water Service Outages
- Mosquito Spraying
- Sewer outflow/overflow
- Weather warnings
- Upcoming Neighborhood Services meetings
- Employee wide communications
- Police Tactical Incident (whole group or sub units)
The City of Plano has an estimated population of 286,400 residents in approximately 116,400 households that can take advantage of the current emergency and mass notification system. Residents, as well as local businesses and their employees, have the option to also subscribe to this system. Currently, there are approximately 88,299 subscribers.
The City’s existing contract expires at the end of December 2020 and has no remaining renewal options. In early 2020, the City assembled a multi-departmental team to participate in a competitive bid process to select an emergency and mass notification system that would provide the best value for the City of Plano and its stakeholders.
In response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for Emergency and Mass Notification System the Evaluation Committee reviewed and evaluated six (6) companies and shortlisted four (4). After a 5-month evaluation process, which included presentations of shortlisted vendors, the determination was made to award to OnSolve as the incumbent vendor offering additional features that enhances the CodeRed system currently in use, as well as the avoidance of the time and complexity associated with implementing a new system. In addition, OnSolve provided the best combination of technical capabilities and ease of use. Additionally, the solution provides the City with robust reporting capabilities, accurate mapping, and the ability to reach multiple devices, benefitting Plano residents and City employees.
The six-year contract amounts to $256,500.00, with a per-year cost of $42,750.00. This pricing is inclusive of unlimited messages and SMS, as well as CodeRED Weather Warning, IPAWS (the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, which is FEMA's national system for local alerting), and Foreign Language in over 20 different languages through Microsoft Translator. It also includes customer support, training, maintenance and system updates.
If not approved, the City of Plano will not have access to a service for simplified centralized emergency and mass notification needs. This is a critical service to maintain without disruption, particularly while the City is operating during the global novel Coronavirus pandemic. Without this system in place, the City will need to leverage its existing email lists, social media platforms and other data sources to disseminate time-sensitive critical updates both internally and externally.