Incident Communications Management Software

The Vendor is required to provide an incident communications management software aims to centralize and streamline the process of communicating transit-related incidents across multiple external channels.
- Currently, Incident Communications Specialists (ICS) manually enter and update incident information across numerous systems, including digital signage, trip-planning tools, alerts, social media platforms, and the agency website.
- Objectives 
•    Centralize incident communication workflows into a single, integrated platform 
•    Automate message distribution across multiple external communication channels 
•    Reduce manual effort and eliminate duplication in public notifications 
•    Improve consistency and timeliness of public-facing information 
•    Provide analytics and reporting on communication performance 
•    Enhance rider experience by integrating with route/trip planning tools to reflect service disruptions 
•    Replace current redundant systems
- Each platform requires separate updates for the duration of the incident. This manual, multi-step workflow increases workload and introduces risk of human error.
- The new solution shall eliminate these inefficiencies by centralizing entry and distribution.
- Centralized communication platform
•    A multi-user, centralized tool with a standardized user interface for incident entry and real-time outbound communication.
•    Seamless integration with data and communication sources including, but not limited to:
o    X (formerly twitter)
o    Email systems
o    SMS delivery systems
o    Digital signage platforms (e.g., Penta wavwriter for sunrise SESA, papercast/e-paper, daktronics/OVX, onboard signage, bus headers)
o    Route/trip planning tools (e.g., GTFS-based apps, transit app, agency on demand app)
o    Dynamic integration with agency website (SITECORE), including display of delay/disruption messaging on route pages.
- Customer communication options
•    Passenger opt-in capabilities for multiple notification channels including a mobile application
•    Support for communication by mode, route, or geographic area
•    Multi-lingual support
•    Accessibility (ADA) considerations
- Administration and governance
•    Role-based permissions and access control, managed by designated administrators 
•    System audit logging for quality assurance and performance evaluation 
•    Ability to create standardized message templates and automated distribution rules
•    Historical reporting and analytics with configurable dashboards and export capabilities
- Incident entry & management
•    Create, edit, update and archive incident notifications
•    Structured fields for incident type, location, affected routes, severity, estimated resolution time, and notes 
•    Tagging system for categorizing incidents (e.g., delay, detour, accident). 
•    Upload and store attachments (e.g., detour maps, instructions).
- Multi-channel communication integration 
1. Social media 
•    Publish messages (including media) to x and other emerging platforms (e.g., bluesky) email & SMS
•    Deliver notifications to predefined contact lists 
•    Support passenger opt-in for mode-, route-, or area-specific messaging
•    Provide scheduled delivery options
•    Allow use of templates or custom messages 
2. Digital signage
•    Push incident messages to: 
o    Penta wavwriter for sunrise SESA signage (TRAX & frontrunner) 
o    E-paper/papercast signs 
o    Daktronics signs (OVX) displays
o    External, third-party signage using GTFS/GTFS-RT or html feeds
•    Allow location-based or geo-fenced targeting and message prioritization
3. Trip/route planning tools
•    Integration through APIS/other with:
o    Transit app
o    Agency website (sitecore CMS)
o    Google/apple maps
- Unified communication interface 
•    Single dashboard for composing and sending messages across all channels 
•    Minimal steps required for message creation and dispatch
•    Spell-checking and message preview
•    Full audit trail of communications, with filtering by incident, user, or communication type.
•    Ability to update active incident messages and notify passengers upon incident closure

- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 13, 2026