Skip to main content

Mr. Postman Take 2

I can't  believe that two weeks have gone by without a new CryWolf® tip.  I do my best to post a new tip each week, but if work is crazy, as it has been lately,  I sometimes don't get the chance.  If you are unfamiliar with the world of blogs, it is possible to subscribe to my blog so that you are notified when something new is posted.  Using the tab on the right hand side will allow you to choose which option suits you best.  My personal preference is to use Google Reader.  This way, all the new posts from the blogs I follow are collected in one place for me to read when I have a chance. This also saves the frustration from checking a blog when nothing new is posted. Here is a simple video from Google explaining Google Reader.


The other option is to use the RSS (sometimes referred to as Really Simple  Syndication, but is technically an RDF Site Summary) feed which will send new posts to your email inbox. However you choose to find this blog, I appreciate you "stopping by".   It is fun to see new states pop up on the map as new readers join us.  Please feel free to share my blog with other alarm units.  Of course, I would also love to hear from you too. I don't think there is a blogger out there who doesn't like to get comments whether they are good or bad--at least they let us know that someone is out there.

While at the symposium, the CryWolf® users group learned of the option to choose all correspondence for an alarm site to be sent by email. This option was discussed here. This week, we are going to discuss how my unit implemented this feature. Because I am not comfortable making this choice for alarm sites, we decided to give alarm users the choice.   To do so, my unit updated our registration forms to allow citizens to opt-in to receiving all or most communications by e-mail.  This was easily accomplished by adding a simple check box to the form. We also explained the option in the letter that goes out with the registration or renewal forms.  When we speak to alarm users, we also mention this option and will update their account if they would like to use it. These were quick and easy changes and I am sure that we will find other ways to use this option.

Another thing that we are doing is letting the citizen's method of contacting us dictate how we respond.  For example, if a citizen registers their alarm site online, we send the permit information to them via email.  If a citizen updates their account online, the resulting letter is sent by email.  We have structured our available letters to allow us to do so.  By allowing the citizen's contact with us to dictate how we respond, we can target those who are at least somewhat knowledgeable of technology and reduce our postage costs.

I hope these tips are helpful.  I am sure that you have some great ideas also so please post them in the comments and let others learn as well.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by my little piece of the web. I look forward to reading what you have to say!

Popular posts from this blog

Queen of the Dairy

Did you know that the Dairy Queen Blizzard turned 25 last year?  I remember when the Blizzard was introduced which makes me officially...old.  Anyway, there was no Dairy Queen in the town where I grew up but there was one where my great grandfather lived.  Do you remember when a trip longer than 15 minutes lasted fuh evah?  When I was little, the 65 minute drive to my great grandfather's small town felt like an eternity.  Maybe it felt so long  because  I was hoping for that extremely rare occurrence of a stop at the Dairy Queen.  My parents were teachers  and the budget was always tight, but occasionally we would stop at DQ and we could get a small cone.  We never got to choose--it was always just that small vanilla cone, but it was a treat nonetheless. Once I was able to drive and had a job, those stops at DQ were almost mandatory when I ventured on my own to my grandparents house.  I probably tried something different each time-...
2 comments
Read more

Ferret Friday #13-Property Ferret

This semester, I have been enjoying the Property book selected by our professor. The book was written by John G. Sprankling and Raymond R. Coletta, and I have found the book to be very approachable. I have really enjoyed the interactive elements that make the book quite engaging. The authors seem to have a sense of humor as this line from the preface indicates: "As authors, we own any errors in the text, at least until someone with better title comes along." Instead of making the study of law as painful as possible with archaic language and cases that are difficult to fathom, the authors seem to have sifted through related cases until they found the most interesting ones to illustrate the rules. With many text books this year, I have spent much time flipping through a legal dictionary just to decipher the lesson. So far, that is not the case with this book; the authors have used language that is easy to follow. I am not saying that important legal terms have been left out ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ferret Friday Coming Again Soon

After the heartbreak of losing A E Ferret back in September, I wasn't sure that we would ever have ferrets in our lives again. Youngest took the loss extremely hard and has only recently begun to soften to the idea of a new ferret. Over the last few months, the Hubster and I have discussed it and even went to the animal shelter when a ferret pair was available. (We were still unsure so we left without them and they were adopted before we were able to get back). Fast forward to earlier this week when I went to the pet store for cat food. Four tiny ferrets had just arrived and I was hooked. In order to bring them home, I had to undo all the changes that we had made to A E's room--it had been transformed into my office for law school. Over the past few days, I moved furniture, created a "bathroom" annex for the cage, and researched solutions to the behavioral issues that we ran into previously. I even named "my" ferret Bella. So, with most prep done, we heade...
Post a Comment
Read more