System Upgrades and Changes

[Scott SNE Webmaster]

This thread is to be used by administrators and dispatchers to discuss and suggest updates and changes to the SNE Incident Notification System.

[Scott SNE Webmaster]

At the suggestion of one of our dispatchers I have added "Working Fire" to the drop-down list of Incident Types. This should cover the majority of working fire assignments whether they be brush, structure, etc. For the moment I've left the structure fire selection as well but I may remove it outright.

[MFD17]

for the drop-down list of incident types, something along the lines of "aircraft alert or trouble" for problems with engines, landing gear, smell of smoke etc...

just a suggestion

[MrSvenSven]

Do we need the county name in the subject? It seems like it just takes up space where a town name is all that is really necessary.

I have notifications set up so that anything with "Worcester" in the subject line gets pushed to my phone (which will wake me up if it is at night). Now with "Worcester county" in the subject line, I am getting extra notifications.

[pkcc]

just looking thru my yahoo spam folder and it is full of SNE notifications (over15 in spam)
i have never tagged them as spam
"most" of the notices goto inbox - thought it was strange that only some of them are spam

as far as your current test - have not rcvd any msg at yahoo - google's is working just fine - instant- yahoo's notification are always about 1 minute late

[Scott SNE Webmaster]

The tests, except for the actual use of the form for the last one, were all sent via Googlegroups. I prefer googlegroups as it provides the "cleanest" rendering of the message sent.

Spam filters have a mind of their own, I'm fully convinced.

[Joe SNE Moderator]

Do we need the county name in the subject? It seems like it just takes up space where a town name is all that is really necessary.

This was one of my suggestions, as many of the pay-service notification nets use this method. It's also handy for those of us that use rules and forwarding through email clients. While I like to read about all incidents here on the forum, I do like to foward only Worcester County incidents to my phone so that I'm not bombarded with irrelevant incidents that are not in my listening area.

If it poses a problem with other users, perhaps we can rethink this method.

[MFD17]

i also was checking my yahoo mail the other day and my spam folder was full of SNE Notifications

[N1BHH]

For those who find notifications in your spam folder you need to open the folder and one of the messages and make sure to click the Add to Contacts link in the header of the message. Otherwise it will continue going to your spam folder. Also select under Actions, This is not Spam, and that will fix it.

[KDWMAEMT]

Scott, Id leave the strucure fire selection if you havent taken it away. I just posted a 2nd alarm in Boston and used the other tab, when I probably should have used the structure fire tab. A 2nd alarm is not a "working fire". If youd rather just use the working fire tab as a generality and then specific alarm levels in the details, thats fine. Just suggesting that you leave the structure fire tab in there.

[N1BHH]

Actually one way in my mind would be to start the post with the Structure fire and note it is a second alarm, or whatever stage. But then again, I have heard structure fires that get knocked down and companies released within minutes. So maybe Working fire should be where we start in notifications. Any other thoughts? Maybe add to the drop down second alarm, third alarm, etc. Because there have been times people have posted in progress fires at the second or third alarm because the level increased rapidly.

[Joe SNE Moderator]

I've been discussing this with Kevin. Many sources on the internet point to a "Working Fire" being an incident that has fire with the initially dispatched companies working. I feel that if we start getting into the levels of alarm that it will only complicate things in a system that we're trying to simplify.

[Rickey334]

I generally go by what the incident commander reports. On .arrival fire/smoke showing = structure fire, or the IC might report it as a working fire. Personally I would like to see both in the drop down.

[MFD17]

another add on to the drop down list, bomb/bomb scare or do you want us to consider that hazardous materials

also i personally think the structure fire button should be removed, it just complicates things more. regardless it is still a fire in a building which is considered a working fire. even if it is just fire in the walls from a chimney it is still considered a working fire until knocked down

[MrSvenSven]

I think "working fire" should be replaced with "non-structure fire" or "other fire" and should be used for fires not in structures.

[MFD17]

I think "working fire" should be replaced with "non-structure fire" or "other fire" and should be used for fires not in structures.

why though? if there is a fire in a house, it is considered a working fire assignment. most IC's sign off requesting a working fire assignment followed by alark status if needed

[MrSvenSven]

why though? if there is a fire in a house, it is considered a working fire assignment. most IC's sign off requesting a working fire assignment followed by alark status if needed

I don't see any reason to differentiate a working fire assignment from any other assignment in the subject. Details like that should be left in the comments section. The subject of the message that goes out should be short and to the point.

[Joe SNE Moderator]

People. Seriously? We're hobbyists, not fire departments. Granted, some of you ARE professional dispatchers, most of us aren't. We're not sitting behind the SNE Incident Console dispatching companies to "all hands working" or "3rd alarm, but not a working fire". As I mentioned before, the whole point of revamping the notification system was to simplify things, not make it more difficult and sophisticated. If we're going to quibble over "Working fire", "Structure Fire" or "Any other fire", then we should just get rid of it all and simply call it a damn "fire" and put the specifics elsewhere. As mentioned in post #7, I, along with others, use a filtering system to forward these messages to a cell phone via keywords (ie: Working Fire). This way, we're not bombarded with any irrelevant incident types that we're not interested in and we can zero in on a specific region, all without having to pay for excessive texts out-of-network.

[MrSvenSven]

This was one of my suggestions, as many of the pay-service notification nets use this method. It's also handy for those of us that use rules and forwarding through email clients. While I like to read about all incidents here on the forum, I do like to foward only Worcester County incidents to my phone so that I'm not bombarded with irrelevant incidents that are not in my listening area.

If it poses a problem with other users, perhaps we can rethink this method.

Perhaps we could include something like "city" before the city name, to make it easier to filter by city as well as county? That way someone interested in Worcester county could filter for "MA- Worcester county" and someone only interested in the city could filter by "city:worcester".

[Joe SNE Moderator]

We tried the city/town route. There's too many too list (371, if I recall). It also made the form too large in data size. For those that want to filter, it's as easy as making a rule in Outlook and putting in "Worcester" in the city/town location. At least with the regional drop down, it's consistent and not as involved as entering in all the cities/towns for that specific county/area.

[N1RGR]

People. Seriously? We're hobbyists, not fire departments. Granted, some of you ARE professional dispatchers, most of us aren't. We're not sitting behind the SNE Incident Console dispatching companies to "all hands working" or "3rd alarm, but not a working fire". As I mentioned before, the whole point of revamping the notification system was to simplify things, not make it more difficult and sophisticated. If we're going to quibble over "Working fire", "Structure Fire" or "Any other fire", then we should just get rid of it all and simply call it a damn "fire" and put the specifics elsewhere. As mentioned in post #7, I, along with others, use a filtering system to forward these messages to a cell phone via keywords (ie: Working Fire). This way, we're not bombarded with any irrelevant incident types that we're not interested in and we can zero in on a specific region, all without having to pay for excessive texts out-of-network.

I totaly agree with you Joe. If I may give my two cents on this whole thing, I think we are making this way to complicating. Most of us including myself are just radio operators in this as a hobby. Now I dont know about the rest of you but if I have an incident to report with breaking news I dont want to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what drop down I have to use. I think it is a problem if we have to sit down and decide if its a working fire or structure fire. If this gets way to complicated many folks may not even bother to report incidents. lets keep it simple folks.

[Joe SNE Moderator]

I think we are making this way to complicating .. I dont want to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what drop down I have to use. I think it is a problem if we have to sit down and decide if its a working fire or structure fire.

Right. I don't think we should be eradicating the drop-down system, though. It keeps everything uniform and it even kindly "reminds" those people that might forget to put an incident type.

[Scott SNE Webmaster]

Let me end this debate.

The form will remain as is. There will be no additional drop down menus. None of the drop down menus will be removed. If there is a need to add incident types to the form as we go along we will do so. Thanks for the input.

[MrSvenSven]

We tried the city/town route. There's too many too list (371, if I recall). It also made the form too large in data size. For those that want to filter, it's as easy as making a rule in Outlook and putting in "Worcester" in the city/town location. At least with the regional drop down, it's consistent and not as involved as entering in all the cities/towns for that specific county/area.

I am not suggesting a drop down that lists every city and town, I think it's fine the way it is right now. What I'm saying is that it is now impossible to filter out events in Worcester, because the filter will see anything with "Worcester county" in the subject.

[Joe SNE Moderator]

...it is now impossible to filter out events in Worcester, because the filter will see anything with "Worcester county" in the subject.

All you need to put in for a rule is: Text including "MA-Worcester County|Worcester"