Cabonne residents will soon be able to receive SMS alerts of events like water outages or significant road closures. The council has taken the next step toward introducing the service, adopting a policy around what can be sent out at the June council meeting. Staff brought the proposal to develop an SMS communications system to councillors, with a view to opening up efficient communication between council and community members. Ninety per cent of SMS messages get opened and are read within 90 seconds of arrival, the report to councillors said. SMS communication will be used for emergency notifications and alerts, which may include water outages, significant road closures or disruptions to the road network, information aligning with emergency services (State Emergency Service alerts). The system provides capability to be able to target specific user groups, such as towns and villages. General manager Brad Byrnes said the system would be opt-in, but it would give the council an increased capacity to notify residents very quickly of these sorts of incidents. "Communication is the key to everything and anything we can do to enhance communication for these sorts of incidents when they occur, council's willing to step into and try and make it better," he said. "Particularly when things go wrong, communication is the main thing we've got to get right." If approved by the executive leadership team, it can also include reminders for Council events, meetings, consultations, and deadlines; updates on Council services, projects, disruptions, and community initiatives; important announcements and community notices. It won’t be used for unsolicited marketing or promotional content, or for two-way conversation or discussion of complex matters requiring context or documentation. Ratepayers and residents will have to register to receive the SMS messages to ensure access to critical and timely information, and will have the option to opt out at any time. Council staff will be launching a campaign to encourage people to register for the text message service.
