Voice-Alert System Warns Communities Of Trouble
Leader Technologies’ Leader Alert, a voice-alert system that sends messages to cell phones and hand-held devices, and a variation on the product can be used to investigate a single individual.
Leader Alert costs between $500 and $25,000 depending on usage and how many numbers are on the list and then 9.5 cents per minute for each call. Initial setup costs for many voice-alert systems can be daunting, but a majority of the firms offering the services charge mere setup and equipment fees and not per-call fees.
An eight-line phone system can issue 960 calls per hour for 30 second intervals.
Leader Technologies is hopeful that its product will help law enforcement officials get information out quickly and ensure that communication channels between agencies are open.
Another company, Sigma Communications, offers Reverse 911, a system that allows police to caution local residents about thefts. Both Leader Alert and Reverse 911 let administrators know who has heard an advisory and who has yet to be notified.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Columbus Dispatch (OH) (07/28/05) P. 1D; Merchant, Shouger .
