Briefing Sheet
Board of County Commissioners
Hannes Zacharias, County Manager
From: Walt Way, Director of Emergency Management and Communications
Date: September 27, 2012
To:
Issue: Consider authorizing a contract with Everbridge for a Mass Notification System, Request
for Proposal (RFP) No. 2012-003, at an annual cost not to exceed $179,495 for a period of three
years with the option to renew for two additional one year terms and consider authorizing the
reallocation and expenditures of County General fund balance (reserves) for FY2012 for the
amount of $99,000 to cover the initial contract costs beyond current budget authority.
Background: Johnson County Kansas Government solicited competitive proposals from qualified
vendors for a hosted Mass Notification System. This system will allow Johnson County and our
partners to easily communicate emergency and non-emergency information to the residents of
Johnson County through phone, text and email messages. Lenexa, Olathe, Overland Park and Water
District Number 1 will be utilizing and sharing in the cost of the selected Mass Notification System.
It is expected that additional cities in Johnson County will request to become cost-sharing
participants of the selected Mass Notification System once it is successfully implemented.
Analysis: A pre-proposal tele-conference was held on March 9, 2012. On March 30, 2012 the
Treasury and Financial Management Purchasing Division opened RFP 2012-003 for proposals to
provide a Mass Notification System for Johnson County. The RFP was advertised in the local
newspaper and posted on OnVia Demand Star and Public Purchase, Internet bid notification
companies. The following firms responded to our RFP:
Firms Submitted
Everbridge
Blackboard
Cooper
First Call
Nixle
Cassidian
Communications
Emergency
Communications
Nex-tech
21st Century
Interviewed
X
X
X
Recommended
X
Staff from Emergency Management & Communications, County Manager’s Office, Sheriff’s
Office, Water District Number 1, and the Cities of Olathe, Lenexa, and Overland Park evaluated
the proposals. Based upon the proposals and scoring the RFP committee interviewed the top
three firms. Following interviews the committee recommends awarding the contract to
Everbridge.
Significant factors that led to the RFP Committee recommendation of Everbridge included:
• Demonstration of a clear and complete understanding of the scope of services requested
Briefing Sheet
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Successful implementations of its Mass Notification System in other jurisdictions
A high level of compliance with functionality specified in the RFP
Redundant and resilient hosted data centers
An unlimited usage plan
Ability to broadcast a minimum of 100,000 notifications per hour
Significant research and investments in emerging methods of communication
Option to renew the service for two additional one year terms
In order for the mass notification system to begin on schedule the County will need to initially
cover the total cost of the contract while participating entities finalize their payments. Staff
proposes using $48,495 from Emergency Management & Communications (EMC) 2012 Budget
and $99,000 in general fund reserves for 2012 expenses, and $32,000 from the EMC 2013
Budget for an additional module that may be added in 2013. The $99,000 in reserves will be
reimbursed by the participating entities. As additional cities become participating agencies in
2013, the EMC budget will receive reimbursements for each participant.
Alternatives:
(1) Staff recommended: Implement a hosted multijurisdictional Mass Notification System with
a common vendor and notification database that is cost-shared with other governmental entities
in the county. This significantly reduces the costs to local governments; leverages the collective
efforts of local governments to obtain and share citizen contact information, which must be
obtained voluntarily; and eliminates the need for the County to provide computer servers,
telephone trunks, and other equipment
(2) Contract with Everbridge for a notification system to serve only county departments. This
approach would meet the functional needs of the County but would offer no cost savings and
would likely cause duplication of services among entities and multiple notifications to citizens
for the same event.
(3) Continue to use CityWatch which is for notifying County employees of emergency and
urgent situations in county facilities. The CityWatch software resides on servers maintained by
DTI and has limited voice notification capability and charges overage fees.
Legal Review: Legal reviewed the request for proposal prior to its issuance and will review the
contracts following its award and prior to execution by the County.
Funding Review: Funding for this contract will be provided by existing budget authority within
Emergency Management and Communications in the amount of $48,495 and the use of general
fund reserves in the amount of $99,000. An additional amount of $32,000 from the EMC 2013
Budget may be expended for an additional module in 2013. Funding for the County’s portion of
this of the contract has been included in the FY2013 budget. These expenditures will be paid
from the General Fund, with $99,000 being reimbursed by other participating municipalities.
Budget Approval: _Scott Neufeld (DL)___
Briefing Sheet
Recommendation: Staff recommends authorizing a contract with Everbridge for a Mass
Notification system at an annual cost not to exceed $179,495, RFP No. 2012-003 and to
authorizing the reallocation and expenditures of general fund balance in the amount of $99,000.
Suggested Motion: I move to award a contract to Everbridge for a Mass Notification system at
an annual cost not to exceed $179,495, RFP No. 2012-003 and authorize the reallocation and
expenditures of County General fund balance (reserves) in the amount of $99,000.