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The City of Greenfield is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the Connect-CTY service, our new city-to-resident notification system. Connect -CTY will allow city leaders to reach thousands of Greenfield residents within minutes to warn them of potential hazards such as severe weather, fire, flood, hazardous materials incidents or other dangerous situations. Messages can be sent to the entire city or to residents in specific areas.

Connect-CTY will also allow us to send non-emergency messages like road closings, construction information or other messages.

The Connect-CTY service will be used to supplement our current communication plans and augment public safety/first responder services.

Please accept our invitation to participate in this great service. Please take a few moments to go to the Connect-CTY portal by clicking on the image above. You will be able to validate the information in the Connect-CTY database and add additional information like cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

We know that your personal information is important, but we encourage you to provide as many points of contact as possible. We feel that the ability to contact you in a time of crisis is vital. Please rest assured that we will not share any of your personal information from the Connect-CTY database with anyone. If you would like to provide additional contact information, click the Connect-CTY image to sign up.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Connect-CTY service?

The Connect-CTYservice allows authorized civic leaders to create and rapidly disseminate time-sensitive messages to every telephone number stored in the notification database.  With the Connect-CTY service, authorized users can send thousands of messages in minutes.  Only authorized officials are allowed access to the system.

How does the service work?

Authorized officials record a voice message that is then delivered quickly to individual phones in the notification database.

What types of messages will be sent using the service?

Any message regarding the safety or welfare of our community would be disseminated using the Connect-CTY service.

Examples would include severe weather warnings and updates, hazardous traffic or road conditions inside the city or affecting local routes, and any other situation that could impact the safety, property, or welfare of our citizens.

Does the Connect-CTY service replace other systems that have been used to provide time-sensitive information to residents?

This system is a significant enhancement to existing means of communication and is replacement for the emergency call systems we have used in the past.

Is my telephone number included in the notification database?

It is our intention and hope that every residence and commercial facility in our community be included in the notification database.  For businesses, we only store one main phone number.  For residents, we may have more than one number that belongs to you in the database. Additionally, you may request to have a secondary number be entered into our database for priority calling as well as an SMS number for text messages and e-mail address for e-mail notification.

May I use a cell phone as my notification database listing?

Yes, we can accept cell phones as secondary phone numbers in the database and encourage you to request that your number be included.

What is an “SMS Number”?

Providing an SMS number when registering for Connect-CTY allows us to send a text message to your cell phone or other mobile device. IN an emergency, text messages are often delivered faster and more reliably than phone calls.

What precautions are being taken to protect personal information?

Connect-CTY is a service of Blackboard Connect. Blackboard takes security and privacy concerns very seriously and does not sell, trade, lease or loan any data about our clients to any third party.  From a technical perspective, we utilize multiple physical and virtual layers of firewalls to maintain data security.  Blackboard Connect-CTY only utilizes secure transmissions with its customers. No confidential information is ever transmitted between Blackboard and its customers using e-mail or FTP, but rather always utilizes either a VPN tunnel or SSL.  Data is hosted in state-of-the-art facilities which require photo identification, thumb-print recognition, keyed access, and are manned 24/7 with full-security personnel.  All data is encrypted prior to being placed on tape for offsite storage. Blackboard also retains an external, independent security firm to perform annual security audits.

Will there be a way to positively identify incoming calls which are made by the city using the system?

The caller-ID number for calls generated by the by theConnect-CTY service for calls from the Emergency Dispatch Center will be :  (414) 292-3439.  In addition, every message from the Emergency Dispatch Center will begin with the same standard announcement: “Hello, this is the City of Greenfield calling with an important message” The message content will follow this standard introduction.

Will the Connect-CTY service work if I have a call screening system on my phone?

There are several varieties of call screening devices which use differing protocols for screening.  In general, the system has been found to work with these devices; but, some may require some type of pre-programming to allow our city telephone number to pass through.  We may conduct periodic test to assure that messages are being delivered to numbers in the notification database.

If I am a non-resident home or condominium owner, what phone should be listed in the notification database?

For non-residents or owners who reside out of our city, you may provide an additional phone number to be included in our database to contact during certain situations.  In general, calls are sent to the primary number only, but we also have the ability to call multiple numbers for each resident or business when requested by the resident or business.  Please contact the Emergency Dispatch Center (414) 761-5330 to provide us with that information.

Do I need to add a suite number or apartment number to my address entry?
 

When adding address information to the system, it is not necessary to add a suite or apartment number to the system.  Mail will not be sent based on addresses entered into the system and address information is only used if calls need to be sent to specific geographic areas within the City.

If I have provided more than one phone number, when will they be called?

Should a situation arise that requires us to contact you at multiple phone numbers, we can activate the system to place a simultaneous call to all of your numbers. In most cases, we will be sending calls only to one phone number.

My primary phone or my second listing is a cell phone with a non-local area code.  Will the Connect-CTY service call numbers outside the area?

Yes.  The area code does not impact whether or not a call is made.

How does the Connect-CTY system respond to busy signals or no-answer situations?

For busy signals, the call will be repeated several times in an attempt to reach you. The same is true for No-answer and Call-waiting.  If the phone is answered by a message recorder, the message will be left on the answering device.  If, after several attempts the call does not successfully go through, the system will stop attempting to call.

I am receiving city notification calls at my fax or my secondary phone line.  Can I switch to have the system call my primary phone number?

Yes. Please contact us at (414) 761-5330 to change the phone number in our notification database.

I was not able to listen to the entire call. Is there a way to repeat the message?

Yes, at the end of the message playback, simply press the star (*) key on your telephone to have it repeated in its entirety.

I answer the phone but the Hello message repeats. It then hangs up, calls back, and the same thing happens again. How can I hear the entire message?

Repeating or looping of messages happens when the system detects excessive noise in the background.  This can be caused by loud radio/television volumes, people talking, or busy traffic noise. When you receive the next call, say hello once and turn down the volume of your radio/television or press the mute button on your telephone to allow full message delivery.