911 Emergency Waterkloof – Move to Telegram

Greg Palmer

Why are we moving to Telegram?

We have too many social media groups that make it difficult to manage. The Waterkloof Homeowners Association committee agreed on 28th April 2020 to standardise Telegram, as the resident communication platform. Telegram allows up to 200,000 people on the same chat group, all residents will be vetted increasing the security of the group. It will also make life easier for the security companies as it means they only need to monitor one group. Once we are up and running the 911 Emergency WhatsApp Groups will be phased out. We will also be adding other groups as we go along. 

Planned Telegram Groups 

Phase 1

We plan on the following groups in phase 1:

  1. 911 Emergency Waterkloof

Phase 2

Once pilots have been tested we will be able to migrate the other groups that have maxed out the WhatsApp ceiling of 256 members

  1. Waterkloof Community Group
  2. Waterkloof Walkways
  3. Pet Group 

How to get on the Telegram 911 group

2 easy steps:

Installation & Registration 

The registration process is very similar to WhatsApp.  

Click here to install. If you have Telegram installed it will take you straight  to the registration screen. If you have not installed telegram then you will be directed to the App/Play store. 

You will be asked to verify your location. This is important because we want to limit this group to the Waterkloof boundary. If you try to register outside of Waterkloof it will not allow you in the group. You will also receive another location verification the following day. 

The steps are easy two screens that might be tricky.

Sharing location click on the 4 dots on the bottom right of your screen. 

There are a few other questions which we would like to ask you which we believe would be invaluable in securing Waterkloof as well as building community:

  1. Your first name 
  2. Your last name 
  3. Cell number 
  4. Email address
  5. Street address 
  6. Are you the owner?
  7. Are you the person responsible for the SafeWaterkloof account?
  8. Confirm SW account number
  9. Is the property an Ambassadorial residence?
  10. Total number of people living on the property over 18?
  11. Total number of people living on the property under 18?
  12. Do you have a domestic worker living on the property?
  13. What is your security company?
  14. What is your occupation? 
  15. What interests/hobbies do you have?
  16. Would you like to volunteer time to WHA?
  17. Would you like to be a community street Captain?

WHA/SafeWaterkloof 911 Emergency Rules

To maximize the effectiveness of this group and any future groups we need to implement some rules so that we don’t get emergencies lost in chatter. Persons who do not abide by these rules will be removed from this group or any other group.

Description

This group is for emergencies only and is available to all residents of Waterkloof that are on the SW database. This includes the homeowner and partner. Others are allowed to join by invitation only. All members will be vetted for security. Initially we will include all  residents but once SW is up and running we will include only members of SafeWaterkloof.  

Any emergency event that is happening is deemed as justified i.e:

  • Armed robbery
  • A break in
  • Any theft
  • Request for urgent help
  • Suspicious activity
  • Concerns around security
  • Urgent help medical/police. 

The rules, in line with all norms for social groups, are:

Members (general)

  • Always keep to the group description! Don’t share/post irrelevant messages.
  • Don’t post bygones. Keep the posting current.
  • When posting about suspicious activity please include detail where possible.
  • Always contact your security company first before posting on this group.
  • When posting an emergency please post your address and if possible the name of your security company
  • Don’t post personal thoughts, beliefs and comments.
  • Don’t post  pictures
  • Post your message in one single chunk of text, don’t post every word or sentence in a new message.
  • Do not have one-on-one conversations in the group. Switch to private messages.
  • Do not post between 21:00 and 05:00 unless it is an emergency. 
  • If someone asks a question and you don’t know the answer don’t respond with “I don’t know”. Just wait for someone who knows the answer to reply.
  • Don’t send personal messages. If you feel you need to make a personal response to an incident like “I hope all okay” do so in a private message.
  • If someone asks a question don’t respond if someone else has already answered, or else respond to the person directly in a private message.
  • The group is not a political or religious platform. No arguing, no heated opinions, no fear mongering, no hyped up drama, no fake news. Check your sources before you share.
  • No posting of any advertisements is allowed
  • Never EVER use a group to berate someone else or air grievances. If you have an issue address it one on one with the relevant person.

Members (security companies)

  • No stickers allowed
  • Only the first responder may respond as to outcome
  • Standing down messages are not required from other security companies