Website add-on aims to enhance communication Upcoming

The Norcross City Council has approved the purchase of a website add-on to improve the city’s communication with the public. For $4,428 annually, Civicready’s mass communication system will allow the city to notify citizens about critical events with one click of a button.

Currently, when the city needs to notify the community about a power outage, pandemic information, or something like the recent roof collapse of a building that shut down nearby streets, separate messages must be posted to the website, emergency alerts, the city’s and police department’s Facebook pages, Nextdoor, Constant Contact and other city notification systems.

The Civicready add-on is designed to integrate seamlessly with the current website and will allow a single message to be sent to all platforms. The public can receive messages via web, email,

SMS text, voice call, social media, RSS feeds, desktop alerts, mobile app, PA system, LED/LCD signs, alert beacons, fire alarms, pagers, cable TV and search engines.

Subscribers can elect to receive text, emails and voice calls in their preferred language. The system also has geo-targeting so that alerts can be customized to specific geographic regions. KAREN

Call for writers and artists.

In grades 6-12. Gwinnett County Public Library. Apply: bit.ly/3ia6dxd

■ In person: Norcross Valentine’s Carriage Rides. 6-8:30 p.m. Feb. 13. Taste of Britain, 73 S. Peachtree St., Norcross. Wear a mask. norcrossga.net/925/holidays