TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Douglas Hewett, ICMA-CM, City Manager
FROM: Laura Smith, Emergency Management Coordinator
Willie Henry, Chief Information Officer
David Scott, Communications Manager
DATE: September 28, 2026
RE:Title
Fay Connect Status Update
Title
end
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
All
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
This item supports all adopted City Council strategic goals and objectives. FayConnect 365 supports the City’s strategic focus on connectivity, responsive government, public safety, and effective service delivery by creating a coordinated digital communication strategy for residents.
Executive Summary:
FayConnect 365 is a proposed resident-facing digital communication strategy designed to coordinate and expand technology the City already owns before considering procurement of additional platforms. Under the proposed model, Everbridge would serve as the notification and subscription engine for emergency alerts and voluntary City updates, while existing platforms such as FayFixIT and NextRequest would continue serving their current functions. A FayConnect 365 webpage would provide residents with a centralized location for accessing the appropriate City communication or service channel. The proposed implementation would expand the current Everbridge environment to support public subscriptions for information such as Council notices, Parks and Recreation updates, City events, long-term traffic or road closures, transit information, service changes, and preparedness messaging. Critical emergency communications would remain distinct from voluntary subscription-based communications.
Background:
The City currently uses Everbridge for internal employee notifications and selected departmental audiences, including Fire, Police, and Parks and Recreation. FayConnect 365 builds upon that existing foundation by expanding Everbridge for resident-facing subscriptions and organizing the City’s existing digital communication tools under a common public-facing strategy.
The initiative was developed to address the need for a more coordinated approach to resident communications without duplicating existing services. FayFixIT would remain the platform for reporting service issues, NextRequest would remain the public records request platform, and Everbridge would support alerts and subscription-based communications. FayConnect 365 would function as the umbrella brand and digital entry point connecting residents to these services and any additional platforms and modules that are implemented in the future.
Issues/Analysis:
Expansion of the existing system will require clear governance, departmental roles, communication standards, and system administration procedures. Policies will need to establish which departments may send messages, the types of information appropriate for each subscription category, user permissions, approval requirements, message frequency, privacy and records-management expectations, accessibility, and multilingual communication standards.
Implementation will also require coordination among Marketing & Communications, Information Technology, Emergency Management, Legal, Public Safety, Public Services, and other participating departments. Rather than establishing a permanent standing committee, the proposed model uses a cross-functional implementation group during development and major system changes, with ongoing responsibilities assigned through policy.
The proposed approach minimizes duplication by using existing City platforms and recommends purchasing additional technology only when a documented capability gap remains. Performance measures would include message reach, delivery success, subscription growth, engagement, and resident feedback.
Budget Impact:
The estimated cost to upgrade the City’s current Everbridge contract and support the expanded capabilities required for FayConnect 365 is $15,415.18.
Additional staff time and personnel support will be required during implementation and ongoing administration of FayConnect365, particularly from Marketing & Communications, Information Technology, Emergency Management, and participating departments. The strategy recommends utilizing a cross-functional implementation structure rather than establishing a permanent committee.
Metrics established during the implementation timeline will determine level of ongoing staffing needs for the FayConnect365 program and will have a budgetary impact on personnel once needs are identified.
Options:
This item is being presented as an update on the progress to date on the research and determine Council’s interest in moving the initiative forward; staff is prepared to bring to a future work session for presentation and consensus.
Recommended Action::Recommended Action
For information only, no action required unless Council directs staff to include an upcoming City Council Work Session.
end
Attachments:
FayConnect Strategy Alignment notes
FayConnect Findings PP
Everbridge expansion quote