Second Signal Frequently Asked Questions

What about my existing text paging system?

You can use your existing text paging system and just have Second Signal send its messages through to those pagers, or you can just use Second Signal for all your text paging needs as well. Sometimes, you can save enough money by getting rid of rented pagers that it entirely covers the cost of Second Signal. Your mileage may vary, so give us a call and lets talk.

Do I need to have a dedicated computer at the station?

At one location somewhere within radio range for your department, a base station will need to be set up. The Second Signal base station connects your local department to our state of the art data center. Although we strongly recommend this be a dedicated computer, it isn't absolutely required. We also offer a base station "kit" that can save you space and electricity as well as provide a very highly reliable solution. If you decide to go with our kit, it comes ready to plug in and use. We are also able to support the software on the dedicated base station kit remotely.

Can I get notifications on my cell phone?

Nearly all cell phones sold in the last several years are able to receive text messages. Some providers turn off this feature by default, and you must ask for it to be turned on. Keep in mind some plans include text messaging and some plans charge for each message.

Can I get notifications sent to my email address instead?

Absolutely. We fully support using your email address as the destination for notifications.

Can I get notifications sent to more than one device?

Yes. You can have several cell phones, pagers, and email addresses. You can configure a different set of rules for when each device will be used, and you may have multiple devices used at the same time for the same kinds of notifications if you like.

How much will the cell phone company charge me to receive text messages?

Each cell phone provider and each plan they offer is different. Some include free incoming text messages, while others charge a few cents for each message. Some plans offer pre-purchased text messages in bulk as well. Pagers generally not charge per message, but some may. You should check with your provider.

Will our department get it's own local telephone number?

Yes, most departments will get a dedicated local telephone number. In the rare case that one is not available in your area, we can arrange for a toll free number or assign a number which is a toll call, but may be inexpensive for most members. We are happy to work with you on this.

How many people can call in at once?

We've found that for a department of about 100 members, serving a community with a population just under 9000, that it is very rare to have more than four people on at the same moment. Once the system is in place and the novelty is worn off, we see an average call lasting less than 30 seconds -- just long enough for members to determine what is going on. We've seen up to 20 calls within the first five minutes without ever going past 4 calls at a time. We allocate a minimum of 4 concurrent lines for each department that falls within our standard offering size. More are available at additional cost but that is very rarely necessary. We hold the right to limit a customer to those 4 calls at once, however in most cases the total pool of available lines is sufficient that we have excess availability and can allow a few more calls. It is very unusual for all the lines at all the departments to be busy at once. In fact, it has never happened.

Can I call in and stay on the phone all day?

We work very hard to discourage this. We may even drop the call after 30 minutes. When there has been no traffic for more than 5 minutes, we begin to play a beep tone and 'no current activity' indicator every 30 seconds. You can, however, use the PC based software to listen all day long without the annoying beep tone. Users listening on the PC based software do not count toward the number of people calling in at once.

How reliable is Second Signal?

Generally speaking, Second Signal is as reliable as your internet connection to us. Sites with a highly reliable internet connection and a dedicated base station PC should find Second Signal extremely reliable. Our primary server is located at a high availability data center in Virginia with standby power, physical building security, climate controls, and redundant high speed internet connections. We have a standby server located in at a similar facility in Los Angeles and can switch to that server on very short notice if need be. Recorded data is backed up from one to the other frequently throughout the day. We are working to update the base station software so that it can store recorded content if your connection is not available and forward that content to us once a connection is re-established.

Can we get rid of our dispatch radio pagers and just use Second Signal?

No. Absolutely not. We cannot recommend against this in strong enough terms. We call it "Second Signal" for a reason. Your local radio paging system is locally controlled, backed up, and extremely reliable. It is also very fast. Although most of the time Second Signal may seem nearly as fast, there are simply too many things we cannot control for it to be a reasonable replacement for critical dispatch notifications. We cannot control the connection to us, our connection to the cell phone providers, the text messaging gateways of those providers, or the local reception in the area. As such, we believe Second Signal to be an extremely valuable tool for extending your present capability -- but never a replacement.