Information, warnings and safety on YOUR PHONE. Free notifications directly from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław. At the end of 2017, following numerous consultations, the chief of police decided to join the nationwide BLISKO app, through which the police will send residents warnings and important announcements. Lower Silesian police is the first garrison to begin broadcasting through the app. The first announcements were sent to residents at the beginning of February.
The BLISKO app is part of the nationwide SISMS system, which is already used by nearly 500 Polish cities and municipalities. Its primary function is to enable administrative services to notify the public in a fast and effective manner. In an age of technological development and the resulting information overload, sending messages to phones is the most effective way of communicating, ensuring that the content is read.
The app’s main advantage is that it allows residents to freely choose information services from individual senders. As a result, users receive only the information that interests them, without being cluttered with unwanted content. For the Police, it is valuable because it can quickly reach a specific recipient interested in a particular service.
Through the BLISKO app, Lower Silesian police will provide:
- information concerning searches for witnesses to road accidents, searches for missing persons, etc.
- information related to traffic regulations and road safety
- information for seniors on how to avoid hazards
- warnings related to current events involving traffic restrictions and disruptions in a given area, such as road accidents, construction disasters, natural disasters and various other emergency situations
- safety issues worth knowing about.
All information from the Lower Silesian police headquarters can be received by users who select a location in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in the app.
The BLISKO app is very convenient because it automatically notifies users about every new entry, much like the delivery of an SMS message. It allows users to select multiple locations; for example, they can choose Wrocław as well as other places they visit. After a location is selected, the app displays the current list of senders providing information in that area. Some locations have only nationwide senders, but users can be sure that they will send only local information.
The BLISKO app focuses on useful, advertising-free content. Only certain entities can join its group of senders, including city and municipal offices, municipal companies, water utilities, cultural and educational centres, and other public-service organisations. In addition to local senders, users will also find nationwide senders.
One of the reasons the police decided to broadcast through BLISKO is that the app belongs to the secure SISMS system, which has proven effective in several hundred local governments, from large cities to small municipalities, including Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Radom, Częstochowa, Bełchatów and Legnica.
The app is free, and most smartphone users can download it from the official Google Play (Android), App Store (iOS) or Windows Store (Windows Phone) distribution platforms. After installing the app, enter your location, select the sender or senders you are interested in, and then indicate which services may send you information. The app is flexible and allows settings to be changed at any time.
“Residents of Lower Silesia can now receive important information from the Police. The more recipients there are, the more effective the notification system will be. We strongly encourage you to install the BLISKO app,” say the officers.
They add: “The system is provided by the Wrocław-based SISMS company, which specialises in IT services for local-government and administrative institutions.”
Will you install it?