The decision to add the app to their communication channels was prompted by a “desire to find a way to connect directly with our residents on issues that affect them personally”.
“While social media has an important role to play in instant messaging, it only reaches people who are actively engaged with the platforms; we are often told that people don’t have a Facebook page, don’t want to engage on social media but also don’t want to miss out on important messages from them.”
By downloading the Antenno app, people would receive notifications, alerts and reminders on the things and places that are important to them, she said.
“For instance, if a water break has caused a water shut down affecting four to five streets in a town, we can now ringfence those streets on a map and send the notification directly to residents in that area that have the app downloaded.
“To date we could only rely on Facebook or paying for radio airtime, to get that message out, with no guarantee that it would reach the intended audience, especially if the shutdown is only for a couple of hours.”
“It [also] gives the user the opportunity to report issues that need fixing or share ideas with council.”
She said the council would still use its other channels.
