ICEsoft Technologies Canada : Voyent Alert! is Helping Communities Across Canada Stay Connected During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Feb
24

Voyent Alert! is Helping Communities Across Canada Stay Connected During the COVID-19 Pandemic

February 24, 2021 (Calgary, AB) - Connection is a core human value that has been challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but 'SaaS' technologies such as Voyent Alert! by ICEsoft Technologies Canada Corp. (CSE: ISFT) have helped support connection and community engagement in unique ways across Canada since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

In the last year, various communities across Canada have used Voyent Alert! to engage and inform their citizens.

'Voyent Alert! has become our comprehensive community communications system in Meadow Lake,' says Neil Marsh, Fire Chief of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. 'It is much more than an emergency alerting app and has allowed us to effectively engage our community on a day-to-day basis to keep residents safe and well informed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have used it to communicate exposure alerts within our community, provide up-to-date information and links to online resources, as well as facility closures or new procedures.

In addition, The Town of Meadow Lake encouraged citizens to stay connected with Active in Isolation Events such as virtual bingo and a community Curbside Food Drive.

Due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 lockdown, the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's switched to digital council meetings. Using Voyent Alert! they informed the community about this change and provided the access details directly to their device. By doing so, community members can simply click the link or phone number and log into the meeting directly from the alert.

In-order to stay connected and encourage community wellbeing, The Town of Portugal Cove-St. Phillip's has also used Voyent Alert to send notifications highlighting COVID-19 friendly events for the local community, such as a Drive-in-Movie Event, Virtual Trivia Event or their upcoming Winter Carnival.

'The challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the need for rapid, clear and accurate communication to constituents, team members and employees among Canadian municipalities and organizations,' says Brian McKinney, President & CEO of ICEsoft Technologies. 'Voyent Alert! can help communities stay connected and alleviate the communication gap. In fact, 90% of the communications sent using our service in the last year were informational alerts vs emergency alerts. Informational alerts tend to contribute to the overall wellbeing of a community and can help people make better more informed decisions or provide valuable insights.'

Most towns, regional districts/counties and communities will onboard a mass notification service such as Voyent Alert! to use as a communication tool as part of an emergency preparedness plan for a critical event such as a fire or flood, but the service is overwhelming used to highlight informational communications (90% of alerts). And in the case of COVID-19, the service supports both categories - emergency (State of Emergency Advisories) and informational (updated restrictions, protocols, policies, online and community resources, health and safety reminders or even community events such as a drive-in movie).

Due to advanced geo-fencing and topic groups, alerts can be sent to localized areas or groups instead of dispersed across a region or province, which helps reduce confusion when information or restrictions vary depending on the different areas.

Throughout the pandemic, Voyent Alert! has seen a 170% increase in clients being onboarded in 2020, due to the desire to keep citizens engaged, connected, safe and informed.

Technology can help alleviate some of those communication challenges caused by the pandemic and can provide unique ways for communities to maintain connection, engage their citizens and contribute to the overall well-being within their community.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• 90% of notifications sent on the Voyent Alert! service are informational alerts.
• 63% of clients in AB used Voyent Alert! to communicate COVID-19 information relevant to their local community.
• 170% growth in clients in 2020, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAMPLE ALERTS/IMAGES LOCATEDHERE