SMS Service for Bluff Residents

Readers may have noticed recent press reports about SMS services being provided in other suburbs. Good news - the CPF will shortly be launching an SMS service dedicated to the Bluff. Although not intended as an emergency service, it will greatly speed up communications between the CPF, the SAPS, and the community. The system will be programmed to provide specific responses based on the text in received SMS messages. It will also enable numerous people to be reached quickly in case of emergency management.

For those without cell-phones, we will also be able to send SMS's to normal Telkom phones. In this case, instead of reading the SMS, you will receive a telephone call and the SMS will be read out to you when you answer. In the event that the phone is not answered, several retries will be attempted. To receive SMS's as text on your Telkom line, you will have to have an SMS-capable telephone or an SMS adapter and you'll have to subscribe to Telkom's Identicall service. This is quite reasonably priced. Contact us for more details.

Like anything these days, unfortunately there is a cost attached to all this. But the good news is that, unlike other similar services, you will be asked to pay absolutely nothing other than the cost of SMS's that you send! Note however, that the funding is not unlimited and we appeal to residents not to abuse the service. If you wish to assist with sponsorship, please contact the CPF Chairperson.

To register for this service, please complete this form, or email your firstname & surname, your street address, cell number & home number to sms-service@bluffcpf.co.za. You can also request an emailed copy of the form from sms-service@bluffcpf.co.za. We are currently on a data-collection drive - rest assured that this data will be secured and only used for community purposes. Also, unless there is a serious emergency, we do not intend waking you up with SMS's at all hours of the night!

Watch this space for further details.