Utah agencies soon to get new way to contact public

State and local officials will soon have a simple, geographically based way to get messages to the public using phone, fax, pagers or e-mail, what they are calling a "key component" of the state's emergency preparedness effort.

The Utah Department of Health expects to have the Utah Notification and Information System (UNIS) online this spring. The system uses Geographic Information Systems mapping to let participating agencies notify people within their areas, said Cody Craynor, an information specialist for the health department.

Officials say such a system could be used to notify nearby residents of a missing child, a chemical spill, a public health threat or something as simple as the need to move cars so they don't block snowplows and get towed after a major snowstorm. While "it's not intended to be used for trivial matters," Craynor said, it can be used for non-emergencies. The agency or organization sending the message, which will be identified in the message body, is responsible for the content.

UNIS can make around 7,800 phone calls an hour, using 104 phone lines to deliver a 30-second message. The message is sent to publicly listed phone numbers sorted by geographic areas. Text messages by e-mail and pagers are even faster, while faxes are slower.

Agencies that are specially trained and authorized to use the system will access it through special software on their own computers.

In a cooperative agreement, Davis and Weber counties will have remote computer-based systems to greatly enhance the overall phone-line capacity for the notifications statewide, the health department said.

Right now the department has the system in place and is training different agencies on how it can be used. The geographically based phone numbers, now being added to the system, should be fully functional in two or three months, Craynor said.

UNIS will do things as well. It will serve as a central Web site for information sharing and cooperation between participating agencies and have a secure online discussion forum and bulletin board feature. Craynor said the department expects that many agencies will coordinate their emergency efforts on the system.

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