I was recently looking at the “competition’s” websites as I often do to see what other departments are posting and updating. There are some really great fire department sites on Long Island. Unfortunately it dawned on me that even some of the top sites, and even in their contact areas, do not list an email address to reach.
I understand that it is crucial to list our emergency number and also our non emergency phone contact, but isn’t it equally as important to list our e-mail?
My department site lists both our info@ email address and my department PIO email contact on the site. We receive many email inquiries from folks wanting to know information on a wide range of topics from, how to dispose of combustible materials to how do I get fire prevention speakers? to what time does a parade start to how do I join the department and everything in-between.
Some people use email as their main form of communications. There are a group of citizens who would much rather email then pick up the phone. Maybe they feel a human voice would laugh at their question, or they would be put on hold and sent from extension to extension, whatever reason though, emailers make up a large number of people seeking important information that deserve to have their questions answered.
My department receives a fair number of e-mail inquiries. The info@ questions are routed to the appropriate parties and quickly responded to.
It has been my experience that once I start a dialogue with these folks, and even though I offer a phone number if they want to respond, the conversation still remains restricted to email communication. That is their comfort zone.
Don’t miss out on engaging the members of your community who use email as their primary form of communication with the “outside world.” Make sure your website and publications has email information listed.
You’re absolutely correct about the need for posting an email address on a website. Unfortunately I have found that many government sites, including first responder sites, don’t include an email address for the specific reason that someone will then have to write back (respond)! Often, no one is available/has time/willing to take on this task of responding to public inquiries. Think about it–management would actually have to PAY someone to work with the public. Huh. Go figure!
I don’t have an email address on any of my sites, and the primary reason for that is spam. I do, however, use a contact form and the form’s contents are packaged and sent to me as an e-mail (the from field is populated by the sender’s email address). The use of a captcha style validation helps to filter out spam (however, this only filters most, but not all spam).
I receive the email on both my desktop and Blackberry cell phone and am able to reply back as soon as I get the email.
I recently attended the Firehouse Expo in Baltimore (just up the street from me), and one of the business cards I picked up had a Skype internet telephone ID on it; good use of free/low cost technologies readily available.