Blackboard Connect is the Riverwoods Village-to-Resident Notification System. With this service, the Village and Police Department can send email and/or voice messages to residents and businesses with specific information about time-sensitive or common-interest issues, such as emergencies and local community matters. Click here to sign up to begin receiving messages.
Blackboard Connect ®
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Blackboard Connect service?
The Blackboard Connect service allows authorized Village personnel to create and rapidly disseminate time-sensitive messages to telephone number and emails in the notification database. With the Blackboard Connect service, authorized users can send thousands of messages in minutes. Only authorized Village staff are allowed access to the system.
How does the service work?
Authorized staff record a voice message and/or prepare an email that is delivered quickly to individual phones and email addresses in the notification database.
What types of messages will be sent using the service?
Any message regarding the safety or welfare of our community would be disseminated using the Blackboard Connect service.
Examples would include severe weather warnings and updates, hazardous traffic or road conditions inside the Village or affecting local routes, and any other situation that could impact the safety, property, welfare or services for our residents.
Are my telephone number and email address included in the notification database?
It is our intention and hope that every residence in our community be included in the notification database. To provide contact information, please visit the Village's Blackboard Connect web portal here to create an account for Blackboard Connect. You can also contact Police Records at 847-945-1130 to be entered into the system by Police personnel.
May I use a cell phone as my notification database listing?
Yes, we can accept cell phones in the database and encourage you to request that your number be included.
What precautions are being taken to protect personal information?
Blackboard Connect® is a service of The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI). NTI takes security and privacy concerns very seriously and does not sell, trade, lease or loan any data about ourclients to any third party. From a technical perspective, we utilize multiple physical and virtual layers of firewalls to maintain data security. NTI only utilizes secure transmissions with its customers. No confidential information is ever transmitted between NTI and its customers using e-mail or FTP, but rather always utilizes either a VPN tunnel or SSL. Data ishosted in state-of-the- art facilities which require photo identification, thumb-print recognition, keyed access, and are manned 24/7 with full-security personnel. All data is encrypted prior to being placed on tape for offsite storage. NTI also retains an external, independent security firm to perform annual security audits.
Will there be a way to positively identify incoming calls which are made by the Village using the system?
The caller-ID number for calls generated by the Blackboard Connect service will be:
847-945-1130. In addition, every message will begin with the same standard announcement: “Hello, this is a message from the Village of Riverwoods.” The message content will follow this standard introduction.
How does the Blackboard Connect system respond to busy signals or no-answer situations?
For busy signals, the call will be repeated several times attempting to reach you. The same is true for No-answer and Call-waiting. If the phone is answered by a message recorder, the message will be left on the answering device. If, after several attempts the call does not successfully go through, the system will stop attempting to call.
I was not able to listen to the entire call. Is there a way to repeat the message?
Yes, at the end of the message playback, simply press the star (*) key on your telephone tohave it repeated in its entirety.
Read the Blackboard Connect Terms of Use
Click here to sign up to begin receiving messages.
