MyLocalSafety - Configuration and Getting Started

This video provides a comprehensive walkthrough for agencies looking to launch and manage the MyLocalSafety community application. By following this guide, you will learn how to establish your digital presence and manage staff access effectively.

In this video, we will cover:

• Pre-Launch Requirements: A checklist of the three essential assets needed to build your profile: an official agency logo (150x150 pixels), complete profile details (Contact info and "About Us" text), and a staff permissions list.
• Member Permissions & Access Control: Instructions on navigating the IamResponding administrative functions to grant granular access. This includes authorizing staff to manage public content, send community alerts, or view sensitive residential pre-plans.
• Core Entity Configuration: A step-by-step guide to the Manage MyLS portal. You will learn how to upload branding, identify your unique Entity Code for resident subscriptions, and finalize your agency’s motto and color scheme.

Note: Ensure you have Administrative Functions enabled in your IamResponding account before attempting to modify member permissions.

Follow these steps to customize your agency's profile and authorize staff members to manage the MyLocalSafety platform.

1. Prepare Your Assets

Before logging in, ensure you have the following ready:

• Official Logo: JPEG or PNG format, ideally 150x150 pixels.
• Profile Details: Your agency's formal name, current contact info, and a brief "About Us" description.
• Staff List: A list of members who will need authority to edit content or send community-wide alerts.

2. Configure Member Permissions

Permissions are granular, allowing you to separate public content management from private residential data.

• Log into IamResponding and navigate to Administrative Functions.
• Under the Members section, select Edit a Member.
• Locate the specific staff member and open their profile for editing.
• Toggle Access: Scroll to the Permissions section at the bottom to grant rights to add/edit content, manage residential pre-plans, or send community alerts.
• Click Update Profile to save your changes.

3. Set Up the Management Portal

• From the main sidebar menu, navigate to MyLocalSafety and click Manage MyLS.
• Upload Logo: Add your agency's branding image.
• Identify Your Entity Code: Note the unique code displayed here; community members need this to find and subscribe to your agency within the app.
• Brand Identity: Enter your agency's motto or tagline and select a color scheme that matches your branding.
• Click Save to take your MyLocalSafety platform live.

Security Note: You can authorize staff to manage public MyLS content without giving them access to sensitive private residential data.

This guide covers how to manage the five core default pages in MyLocalSafety. You will learn how to customize "Always On" pages and toggle "Optional" pages like Recruitment and Donations.

1. Access the Menu Sections

• Log into IamResponding using a desktop browser (Chrome or Firefox).
• Navigate to Administrative Functions MyLS Manage MyLS.
• In the left-hand sidebar, select Menu Sections to expand the list of editable pages.

2. Customize "Always On" Pages

• Home Page: This is your digital front door. Use the inline editor to add welcome text, bulleted lists, or blockquotes. You can upload up to five images for a scrolling carousel or embed videos from YouTube/Facebook.
  Tip: You can rename this tab to "Welcome" or "About Us" to fit your agency's voice.
• Contact Us: Enter your physical address, public-facing email, and social media links.
  Important: You must spell out your State or Province completely (no abbreviations) to ensure community members can find you in the app search.

3. Manage "Toggleable" (Optional) Pages

The Photos, Donations, and Recruitment pages can be turned on or off via the "Visible" toggle. This is ideal for seasonal campaigns or draft modes.

• Photos & Video: Add up to 20 files. Use captions to provide context for your community.
• Donations: Use this for agency initiatives or local causes. You can add a direct URL to a third-party portal like PayPal.
• Recruitment: Rename

Follow these instructions to set up the five core sections of your MyLocalSafety application via the IamResponding portal.

1. Navigate to Page Management

• Log into IamResponding using a desktop browser (Chrome or Firefox).
• Go to Administrative Functions in the top-left menu.
• Select MyLS Manage MyLS.
• On the left-hand sidebar, click Menu Sections to view your page list.

2. Configure the Home Page (Required)

• Select Home from the menu.
• Customize Title: Rename the tab if desired (e.g., "Welcome" or "About Us").
• Edit Content: Use the text editor to add your greeting. You can bold text, add bulleted lists, or create Phone Links (which allow mobile users to dial your station with one tap).
• Add Media: Upload up to 5 images for a carousel or embed video links from YouTube or Facebook.
• Click Save.

3. Set Up the Contact Us Page (Required)

• Select Contact Us from the menu.
• Enter Details: Fill in your physical/mailing addresses and a public-facing email.
• Critical Tip: You must spell out the State or Province completely (e.g., "Pennsylvania" instead of "PA") to ensure the search function works correctly for residents.
• Social Links: Add URLs for your Website, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
• Click Save.

4. Manage Optional/Toggleable Pages

For Photos, Donations, and Recruitment, you can control visibility using the "Visible: Yes/No" toggle at the top of each section.

• Photos & Videos: Upload up to 20 files. Add Captions to each item to provide context for your community.
• Donations: Use the text editor to explain your cause. Paste your external PayPal or fundraising URL into the "Donation Link" field.
• Recruitment: Use this to attract volunteers. You can link directly to an External Recruitment Portal if your agency already has one on your main website.

Pro Tip: Use the "Visible: No" setting as a Draft Mode. This allows you to build out your Recruitment or Donation pages privately and only flip them to "Yes" when your campaign is ready to launch.

Learn how to expand your MyLocalSafety app by building up to 10 fully customizable pages. This video demonstrates how to tailor safety resources for your community and drive engagement using real-time updates.

In this video, we will cover:

• Seasonal Management: How to hide or show pages based on relevance (e.g., swapping Summer Safety for Winter Safety) without deleting your content.
• Draft Mode & Visibility: Using the "Visible" toggle to build pages privately before publishing them to the public.
• Rich Media & Linking: How to embed videos, use the text editor for clear communication, and create "tap-to-dial" phone links for community resources.
• Push Notifications: The proper way to alert community members when a page is updated to maximize engagement without over-notifying.

Best Practice: Use the "Send Notification" feature sparingly to avoid inundating residents, and avoid sending alerts during late-night hours.

Follow these steps to build and organize your library of custom content within the MyLS management portal.

1. Add a New Section

• Log into IamResponding and navigate to Administrative Functions MyLS Manage MyLS.
• In the left-hand menu, expand Menu Sections.
• Click Add Section. Your new page will appear in the list.
• Click the new section again to begin editing. (Note: You can have a maximum of 10 custom pages.)

2. Customize Page Content

• Set Visibility: Select No for "Visible" to keep the page in draft mode, or Yes to publish it immediately.
• Title & Text: Enter a title (exactly as it will appear in the app) and use the text editor to format your information with headers, bolding, or lists.
• Create Links: Highlight text to link to external websites or phone numbers.
• Media: Add up to 5 images or videos. Choose to position them either above or below your text. You can upload files directly or embed YouTube/Facebook links.

3. Notify and Save

• Drive Engagement: Check the box "Send notification to users when saved" if you want all subscribers to receive a push notification about the update.
• Click Save.

4. Organize or Delete Pages

• Reorder: Use simple drag and drop in the side menu to arrange your custom pages. Note: Custom pages will always appear below the default pages.
• Delete: To permanently remove a page, select the section and click Delete Section.

Pro Tip: Build out your seasonal pages (like "Flood Preparedness" or "Holiday Safety") once and simply toggle them to Visible: No when the season ends. Your work is saved and ready for next year!

The News section acts as your agency's "Source of Truth," providing a chronological record of department activities. This video explores how to use the News feed to share formal releases, monthly newsletters, and incident reports directly with your community.

In this video, we will cover:

• Chronological Engagement: How the app keeps your community informed by archiving past articles and highlighting recent team achievements.
• News Composition: Learning to draft headlines and body content using the built-in editor.
• Multimedia Storytelling: Adding up to five images or videos to bring incident reports and event highlights to life.
• Notification Strategy: How to use push notifications to drive traffic to your big updates while respecting the community's "quiet hours."

Engagement Tip: Use the News section for regular monthly newsletters to build a reliable habit of communication with your residents.

Follow these steps to draft, publish, and manage news articles within the MyLS portal.

1. Access the News Manager

• Log into IamResponding (via Chrome or Firefox) and go to Administrative Functions.
• In the side navigation bar, click MyLS Manage MyLS.
• Select News from the left-hand navigation menu. This screen displays a list of all your past articles.

2. Draft Your Article

• Click Write News to open the editor pop-up.
• Headline: Enter a clear, attention-grabbing title for your post.
• Body Content: Add your story to the text editor. You can format the text with bolding, lists, and links just like the custom pages.
• Visuals: Add up to 5 images or videos. You can upload files directly or embed content from YouTube or Facebook.

3. Publish and Notify

• Alerting Residents: For major updates (like monthly newsletters), check "Send notification to users when saved."
  Reminder: Only send notifications when community members are likely to be awake and active.
• Click Save to make the article live immediately.

4. Edit or Remove Posts

• Edit: Click the Pencil Icon next to any existing article to update the text or media.
• Delete: Select an article and click Delete.
  Warning: Deleting an article is permanent and cannot be undone.

Note: Articles are displayed in chronological order, making it easy for residents to scroll through your department's history and stay connected.

MyLocalSafety alerts bridge the gap between broad national systems and the hyper-local information your residents need. This video explores how to issue granular alerts for road closures, emergency incidents, or warming shelters directly from your desktop or mobile device.

In this video, we will cover:

• Hyper-Local Alerting: Understanding when to use MyLS alerts for high-impact local events without causing "notification fatigue."
• Alert Composition: Creating clear titles and concise instructions, including the use of high-impact images like evacuation maps.
• Multi-Platform Flexibility: How to send alerts from the IamResponding desktop portal or on-the-go via the mobile app.
• Closing the Loop: The importance of sending follow-up alerts to rescind previous orders and keep the community updated.

Stewardship Note: Use the Alert feature sparingly for critical matters. For general updates or community news, utilize the standard News section instead.

Learn how to push real-time, life-saving information to your community using either the IamResponding web portal or mobile application.

Option A: Using the Desktop Browser

• Log into IamResponding and navigate to Administrative Functions.
• Select MyLocalSafety Manage MyLS.
• In the left-hand menu, select Alerts.
• Draft Your Alert: Provide a descriptive title (including date/time) and concise instructions in the body.
• Add Visuals: Upload one high-impact image (e.g., a map or photo) and choose its position.
• Click Send to push the alert immediately.

Option B: Using the IamResponding Mobile App

• Launch the IamResponding app on your mobile device.
• Navigate to the Main Menu and scroll down to the Account section.
• Tap MyLS Alert (Note: Your profile must have the correct permissions to see this).
• Compose on the Go: Type your title and message directly into the interface.
• Attach a Photo: Use your phone's camera or gallery to attach a real-time photo of a hazard or scene.
• Tap Send to instantly push the alert to community members.

Best Practice: When an incident is resolved, send a follow-up alert to officially rescind the previous one. This ensures residents stay informed and know when a situation is clear.

Now that your MyLocalSafety application is configured, it is time to shift focus from "how it works" to "how to share it." This video explores the professional outreach assets available to help you drive enrollment and protect your community.

In this video, we will cover:

• Outreach Strategy: Why a methodical, multi-channel approach (print, social, and local news) is vital for a successful launch.
• Digital & Physical Assets: An overview of available social media kits, posters, business cards, and media releases.
• Verification & Trust: The importance of using your official agency logo to verify the source and build immediate trust with residents.
• Broad Engagement: How MyLocalSafety benefits non-residents, such as family members monitoring the safety of senior parents from afar.

Success Tip: A high-effort launch leads to better community protection. Use the provided templates to ensure your residents see the app as a verified, essential safety tool.

Follow these steps to access your MyLocalSafety implementation kit and begin your community roll-out.

1. Access the Resource Portal

• Log into IamResponding using Chrome or Firefox.
• Navigate to Administrative Functions MyLS Manage MyLS.
• On the left-hand navigation menu, select Implementation Resources.
• Tip: Click "Expand All" on the right side to see every available category at once.

2. Review Strategic Guides

• Open the Implementation Overview for strategic recommendations on rolling the service out.
• Review the Marketing Guides and the Recommended Posting Schedule to maximize community engagement.

3. Deploy Digital & Social Media Kits

• Visuals: Download formatted imagery for Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter). Choose from architectural or lifestyle photography.
• Pre-written Content: Download sample posts that include captions and hashtags.
• Personalization: Just drop in your Unique Entity Code to let residents know how to find you.

4. Customize Physical Outreach Materials

Use Adobe Reader to edit downloaded templates for flyers, postcards, and business cards.

• Branding: Add your agency logo, name, and mailing address.
• Entity Code: Ensure your unique code is prominently displayed so residents can subscribe.
• Distribution: Place flyers on community boards, include postcards in welcome wagon bags, or hand out business cards at community events and after clearing a scene.

5. Engage Local Media

• Press Releases: Fill in the blanks on the "Immediate Release" template for local news stations.
• Editorial Layouts: Use the "Print News Article" layout to tell a story about how MyLocalSafety benefits your citizens.

Creative Idea: Business card templates can be printed on magnets to provide a lasting safety presence in a resident's home.