Add a Public Contact

A Public Contact, also known as a Public Member or Subscriber, is a member of the public who can receive alerts from your jurisdiction sent through CivicReady, now our Mass Notification system. This article will show you how to add a public contact.

Important Note

• If a user texts the correct shortcode a keyword associated with a group, their phone number will be added to the system. If their phone number was not already in the system, they will be added as a contact with Text-To-Join listed as their last name and their phone number listed as their first name.

• To add bulk contacts, view our Member List Upload article or contact your Customer Success Manager. If you don't know who your Customer Success Manager is, then you can contact Support.

Instructions

1. Sign in to the system if you have not already
2. Navigate to Resources then click Manage Directories
   
3. Click Public Contacts
   
4. Click Add Member
   
5. Fill in the Basic Information fields
   
   
   • Internal Members: Click to exit the Basic Information screen and return to the Internal Members list
   • Member List Upload: Click to exit the Basic Information screen and navigate to the Member List Upload page
   • Member List Download: Click to download an Excel spreadsheet with all public and internal members listed
   • User Type: Select 'Public' from the drop-down list
   • First Name (required): The first name of the user
   • Last Name (required): The last name of the user
   • Email(s): The user's email address (multiple email addresses are acceptable and can be added by separating each with a comma)
   • Address: The user's street address
   • City: The user's city
   • State/Province: The user's state or province
   • Zip/Postal Code: The user's zip or postal code
   • Location: The user's address or location
     
     Notes:

     • Click 'Map' to view the address or location on an interactive map.
     • If a location is not entered, a default address will be selected.
   • Profile Photo Upload: Click to select an upload a photo from your device
   • Photo: Click to open your device's camera to take and upload a photo
   • Agency/Business: The user's agency, organization, or team
     
     Note: Click into the empty field and press the down arrow on your keyboard to view and select an agency/business that is already in the system.
   • Job Title: The user's title or job level
   • Contact Type: Any text describing the type of contact
   • Credentials: List of government or security credentials
   • Web Page: The website address of the user's agency or business
   • Notes: Any comments needed
   • Status: The user's out-of-office status
   • Written Language: The user's preferred written language
   • Spoken Language: The user's preferred spoken language
6. Fill in the Contact Devices fields
   
   
   • Mobile Phone: The user's mobile phone, which will be used for text messages and/or voice calls; an area code must be included with all phone numbers
     • Provider: Select the user's mobile phone provider; click 'Find Provider' to have the system look up the cell number and set the provider drop-down for you
   • Pager/2nd Cell: A text-only device that can be a second cell phone or a pager
     • Provider: Select the user's pager or mobile phone provider; click 'Find Provider' to have the system look up the cell number and set the provider drop-down for you
   • Business Phone: The user's business phone number; the business phone is used for Text-to-Speech purposes if a jurisdiction has the Text-to-Speech capability installed
   • Home Phone: The user's home phone number
   • Alternate Phone: A backup phone number (formerly '2nd home phone') for the user; alerts do not go to this phone number
   • 2nd Mobile Phone: An additional backup phone number; alerts do not go to this phone number
   • Fax: The user's fax number
7. Fill in the Organize fields
   
   
   • Available groups: Add the member to specific groups that apply to them
   • Selected groups: View groups that have been selected in the Available groups box
   • Show parent groups: Check to expand all parent-child groups
8. Click the blue Submit button below the Available groups and Selected groups fields
   
9. The public contact has been added