Long Lines Link

Counties anxious to use new emergency software
By Michele Linck, Journal staff writer

Mark Toney, president of Digital Information Network of Dallas, demonstrates the Desktop Alert system during a training session at the City Hall in South Sioux City Tuesday afternoon. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)

SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- A cross section of public safety and school officials from Sioux City's three metro counties got their first look at a new high-tech emergency management tool recently.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Long Lines, a Sergeant Bluff-based communications company, they'll be using it within a week or two. Shortly after that the public will be able download and use it, too.

The tool, Desktop Alert -- dubbed Long Lines Link here -- is computer software that allows local authorities to instantly issue missing persons, weather, crime or other alerts to each other and to any citizen with an Internet-connected computer. It also has an "internal" capability allowing agencies to communicate privately when phone lines are jammed.

In a year or so, it won't even rely on Internet cables, but will be able to work wirelessly off digital broadcast systems, said Mark Toney, president of its maker, Digital Information Network (DIN), of Dallas.

Toney put on four training sessions Monday night and Tuesday, drawing dozens of law enforcement officers, firefighters, dispatchers, EMTs and others to South Sioux City's City Hall.

At least 12 agencies and school systems each from Woodbury, Dakota and Union counties are participating, a fact Toney said is being watched by some federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security. The feds are most interested in how its multi-jurisdictional application will work.

Lance Martin, South Sioux City's communications coordinator, introduced area emergency management leaders to Desktop Alert earlier this year after seeing it at a conference in Florida. Lincoln, Neb., a test site, provided an example of how it could be used.

A committee representing the three counties' myriad emergency and public safety interests met to see if it could work out the details inherent in crossing both county and state lines. Once Long Lines committed to sponsor the $30,000, three-year contract, it got to work in earnest.

The alert is 100 percent customizable. In fact, the challenge for the committee has been to discipline itself into making sure it uses it only for emergencies, not just for information that would be nice to get out, Martin said.

When an alert is issued, the system emits a distinct sound, also customizable -- Toney's used two shrill ascending tones. Three aspects will always be directly available at a click: an Amber Alert for a missing child, complete with picture and links to the agency issuing the alert (not yet ready); the weather, including real-time National Weather Service radars and data; and the current Homeland Security alert status.

Firefighters at the training were especially interested in the localized weather information, such as wind speed and direction, humidity, and hour-by-hour forecasts.

The "nice" stuff will be there too via links to every participating agency or school's Web site. Once operational, Long Lines Link can be downloaded from any of those sites.

Long Lines CEO Jon Winkel committed his company's funds and serves on the committee, but he attended Tuesday's training as a Sergeant Bluff firefighter. Back at the office, Pat McElroy, director of business development, called the Desktop Alert an impressive tool. "We'd like to see it go throughout Northwest Iowa," he said.

Long Lines, while not unaware of the system's promotional aspect, is allowing some space to be used for links to national memorials for fallen firefighters, law enforcement and emergency personnel. "I really think that's a classy move," Toney said.

Brown called it "an incredibly powerful tool." He said he sees the system expanding eventually not only to other places, but to hand-held computers and other devices. But, he noted, people should still pay attention to various media, the tornado sirens and other safety information. "We know it's not going to reach every person in all three counties," he said.

Michele Linck can be reached at (712)-293-4227 or at michelelinck@siouxcityjournal.com

(from Sioux City Journal, Wednesday, Nov 5, 2003)