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Agenda Item
ASR
Control 11-000312 |
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MEETING DATE: |
03/22/11 |
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legal entity taking action: |
Board of Supervisors |
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board of supervisors
district(s): |
All Districts |
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SUBMITTING
Agency/Department: |
County Executive Office (Approved) |
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Department contact
person(s): |
Teara Le Blanc, 714-834-7079 |
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Mahesh Patel, 714-834-2525 |
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Subject:
Blackboard Connect Renewal for
Mass Notification Services
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ceo Concur |
County
Counsel Review |
Clerk of the Board |
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Concur |
Approved Agreement to Form |
Consent Calendar |
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3 Votes Board Majority |
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Budgeted: Yes |
Current Year Cost:
$562,679 |
Annual Cost:
$400,000 for May 2011 - May 2012.
Future years not to exceed $562,679. |
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Staffing Impact: No |
# of Positions:
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Sole Source:
N/A |
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Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A |
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Funding Source: GF |
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Prior Board Action: Approval
of contract with Blackboard Connect (ASR # 08-000805), MOU with OC Cities
(ASR# 08-001609), MOU with OC Water Agencies (ASR#10-000109) |
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RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Authorize the Purchasing Agent, or his designee, to renew contract N1000009880 for Public Mass Notification System Services with Blackboard Connect (formerly the NTI Group, Inc.) for the period May 6, 2011 through May 5, 2012 for a reduced contract amount of $400,000.
SUMMARY:
The current Contract was established May 06, 2008 through May 05, 2011 for a three year not to exceed amount of $1,688,037. This Amendment #1 for $400,000 extends the contract to May 5, 2012 for a total contract value of 2,088,037.
Renewal of Contract N1000009880 with Blackboard Connect will continue the County's regional AlertOC Program that promotes and provides a countywide tool for quickly communicating urgent information directly to Orange County residents and businesses during times of emergency.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On May 6, 2008 your honorable Board approved a three year contract with the NTI Group Inc. for countywide emergency mass notification system services. Shortly after contract initiation, The NTI Group Inc. was acquired by Blackboard Connect.
The mass notification system the County contracts from Blackboard Connect is the primary component of the County's regional AlertOC Program. AlertOC was initiated in 2008 to improve the region's ability to deliver alert, warning and instructional emergency notifications to Orange County residents and businesses during times of crisis. Today, the Orange County Operational Area, OC Sheriff's Emergency Management Bureau, 33 OC cities and several of the region's water agencies actively participate in the program and use the system in accordance with Countywide and jurisdictional emergency response plans. Additionally, County and city departments leverage a portion of the System for sending mass communications to internal employees and other workforce members.
Blackboard Connect was primarily chosen as Orange County's mass notification system provider because of their system’s enterprise capabilities. The System has capacity to launch 3.2 million phone calls, 2 million e-mails and 2 million SMS (text) messages per hour. The system includes a self-subscription web portal that is accessible from the www.alertoc.com website. To date, 51,300 households and 4,209 businesses have registered their cell phones, work phones and email addresses into the System. Separate from this contract, the County procures the regions 911 emergency landline telephone database quarterly and uploads the information into the System for emergency use only purposes. Combined, the System and its contact data give Orange County Emergency and Public Safety Officials the ability to directly communication critical information to over 2 million Orange County households and businesses. Depending on the nature and circumstances of an emergency event, notifications are sent to one or all three notification channels (phone, e-mail, text) required to effectively “get the word out”.
Over the last several years, the system has been activated by multiple jurisdictions to communicate with communities experiencing a crisis. This includes, but is not limited to sending notifications related to a perceived, upcoming or in-progress disaster event that requires the public to take action: evacuate, shelter in place, take precaution, where to get emergency-related assistance. Additionally, the system has been used at times to seek assistance from the public regarding an at-risk child or senior adult that has gone missing from the community.
In preparation for a major County disaster, a regional test of the system was performed in October 2010 that included 19 cities simultaneously launching 546,288 phone calls, 24,204 e-mails and 5,245 text messages. This exercise tested the system's capability, capacity and effectiveness to execute and deliver a large volume of notifications to the public across the County.
Overall, the County has received positive feedback from County and City Program Participants, OC Emergency Response Organizations and Orange County Constituents regarding the value the AlertOC Program offers the community as a whole.
Total Program Cost To Date (projected through May 2011)
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Blackboard Mass Notification System Contract |
$ 1,688,037 |
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E911 Phone Data (Verizon and AT&T) |
$ 50,000 |
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Program Management (estimated at .3 FTE) |
$ 160,000 |
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Total: |
$ 1,898,037 |
Additionally, through the Federal Homeland Security Grant Program, the County Operational Area funds the program's marketing and educational material used to educate the public about the program and to encourage residents and businesses to register their contact information into the system.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Due to County budget constraints, Blackboard Connect is providing the County with a substantial 29% contract price reduction for the May 2011 through May 2012 contract term. The prior agreed upon annual contract amount is $562,679. The discounted contract amount is $400,000, providing a total savings of $162,679 (29%) from prior years.
STAFFING IMPACT:
N/A