Community Corner

Trumbull Launches New Mobile System to Improve Communication with Residents

Taken from various press releases.

Herbst: “What is great about Trumbull PingTown! is that not only will our government be able to more directly interface with our citizens by the flip of a switch or the touch of a button, but our residents will now be able to more directly interface with one another through this state-of-the-art mobile application.”


December 5, 2012 – First Selectman Timothy M Herbst announced on Wednesday that the Town of Trumbull would be participating in a demonstration project for a new mobile application created by two Trumbull residents. This cutting edge state-of-the-art technology will allow government to more directly interface with constituents and also allow friends and neighbors to more directly interface with one another. PingTown! is a new mobile application for town residents and organizations. It allows organizations to communicate with residents and members of affinity groups in real time. PingTown! was created by Trumbull residents Anand Katragadda and Dr. Jeffrey Denenberg . Trumbull is the first community to participate in this state-of-the-art mobile technology.

The Herbst administration indicated that this new mobile technology would not only bring the community together with enhanced communication techniques, but would also allow the community to better communicate with residents during an emergency. "The recent hurricane and weather challenges the Town of Trumbull has faced the last several years has demonstrated the need for our community to be able to directly communicate with our citizens in a timely and efficient manner," stated First Selectman Herbst. "What is great about Trumbull PingTown! is that not only will our government be able to more directly interface with our citizens by the flip of a switch or the touch of a button, but our residents will now be able to more directly interface with one another through this state-of-the-art mobile application. I am proud of the fact that two Trumbull residents invented this mobile application and I am confident that once fully implemented this mobile application will be used by other municipalities as a means to more efficiently and effectively communicate with the general public." According to the First Selectman, the mobile application can be applied to most cellular devices.

Trumbull's Director of Economic and Community Development, Edward Lavernoich, also offered praise for this new technology that would be utilized by the Town of Trumbull. "The goal of PingTown! is to provide clutter free, nonintrusive, relevant and timely communications to the residents of Trumbull. We are appreciative of the opportunity to serve as a demonstration project for what we believe will be a very useful tool for community relations." Trumbull Director of Information Technology William Chin also commented that the new mobile application would help the Town communicate quickly with residents, should the need arise. “During the hurricane in the emergency operations center, we were finding that the best way to communicate with Town residents was through their mobile devices. Our updates through Facebook and Twitter were useful, and this mobile application will allow for more enhanced communications between not only the Town’s government and residents, but with residents communicating with one another.” Some of the features of PingTown are:

• Town service alert such as leaf removal, recycling or trash pick-ups. For example: "We will pick up the leaves on your street tomorrow."

• Status of recreation facilities matching your interest: "Trumbull Indian Ledge Park is closed due to rain."

• Communications from your club, team, neighborhood association or place of worship: "Today's practice will start 15 minutes late."

• School bus alerts: "Your bus is 2 miles from you."

• Information in messages from town officials in departments: "First Selectman Herbst is asking residents to keep off roads until noon for snow plows in the Daniels Farm section of Trumbull."

PingTown! is a free service to all Trumbull residents and non-profit organizations. The system has been in pilot use by several residents and a number of key town organizations are expected to commence participation shortly. To sign up, residents can call 203-601-2582. The system will authenticate your Trumbull residential status before granting you permission to interact with in the system.


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