New service to instantly alert businesses to local incidents and emergencies

A service to provide businesses instantly with information on incidents or emergencies that might have an impact on their trade, customers or staff has been being launched by Bristol City Council.

The information provided by the council and the police may cover a broad range from weather warnings, fires or road closures , to demonstrations  or possible criminal or terrorist incidents. Residents can also sign up to the free service.

"This service should be a highly valuable one for local businesses giving them instant access to reliable information on incidents or circumstances that could affect them, their staff or their customers.  Working in partnership means we can send out information and advice at the press of a button" said Cllr Gary Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety.

The alerting service will be launched on 21 June at a seminar   “Be Alerted to Business Impacting Events in Bristol”, to be held at 9.00 am at The Council House, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR 

The event is being held in partnership with Vocal, a leading emergency notification specialist and City Security and Resilience Networks (CSARN), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening security and business continuity in commercial zones.

Two new services are available, meeting the needs of every size of business operating in Bristol. 

iContinuity is a free of charge messaging network where anyone can sign up to receive different types of information updates from Bristol City Council and access a range of free resources for business.  Unlike other messaging networks, iContinuity is housed in a secure and resilient environment, providing organisations with a back up when other communication methods fail.  Residents can also sign up to receive community information updates through iContinuity.

Organizations can also choose to sign up to the Bristol Priority Alert service and become part of a trusted partner alert community.  This service delivers alerts in real-time, direct from the Police control room, ensuring organizations have access to the latest information about business impacting events in Bristol, maximsing the time they have available to respond.

Both Avon & Somerset Police and Bristol City Council are supporting  the new Bristol Alerting services.   “This is a good way of keeping businesses informed faster about things happening in the Bristol area.  By using this iModus emergency notification system we can reach thousands of businesses instantly, and recipients will know that they are receiving information from a single, trusted source. With iModus, we can achieve a coordinated, multi-agency response.” commented Simon Creed, Civil Protection manager, Bristol City Council.

The Priority Alert Service, will enable multiple agencies to send joined up, emergency notification messages to businesses by email, SMS (text message) and pager. These messages are sent from the iModus emergency notification platform.

“We are pleased to be working with the Bristol City Council and the Avon & Somerset Police to warn and inform businesses in the Bristol Area.  We operate a number of successful schemes and will help helping to share best practice with the Bristol City Council in order to support them in achieving a successful Priority Alert Service.  We have seen successful schemes save lives.” Stated Trevor Wheatley-Perry, Managing Director, Vocal.

Businesses can register to receive Priority Alerts on the Vocal website

Anyone can register for a free iContinuity account.

Vocal works with cities across the country to deliver successful iContinuity and Priority Alert Services. iModus sends 20 million  messages per day, helping over 1500 organisations globally, across both the public and private sector to communicate.