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Communications staff brief council on TextMyGov opt‑in notification system; staff to return with integration details
Summary
Staff described TextMyGov, a paid opt‑in text notification platform that can be segmented by department. The quoted cost was about $5,000 per year for up to 50,000 messages; council members raised questions about opt‑out behavior and overlap with existing emergency notification systems and asked staff to return with more information.
Edinburgh — Sarah Beth, a town communications staff member, updated the council July 13 on a proposed opt‑in text notification system called TextMyGov and said the vendor quoted roughly $5,000 per year for up to 50,000 messages.
Sarah Beth told the council the system would allow department‑specific notifications — for example parks and recreation alerts, boil‑water notices or power‑outage advisories — and could reduce staff time spent door‑hanging notices. "This is basically where the public would opt in to an app…you will be opted in for notifications from the town," she said, describing that residents who opt in can select department streams.
Council members asked about how the system handles people who previously opted out of similar services and whether the town’s billing system would remain the parent record for addresses. Staff said they would check vendor details on opt‑out behavior and noted a separate county system provides broader emergency alerts. Sarah Beth said the vendor provides a marketing kit to encourage sign‑ups and that the vendor is willing to work with the town’s upcoming website rollout.
Why it matters: The system would give the town a direct, opt‑in channel for timely notices; council members said implementation decisions (which departments can send messages, how to publicize opt‑in and integration with existing systems) will drive cost‑benefit results.
What’s next: Council took the item as a discussion item and asked staff to return with more technical and implementation detail before any purchase approval.
