SMART system getting small problems fixed fast

SMARTER APPROACH: Donald Perez, Providence Downtown Improvement District safety team leader, uses the SMART system in Kennedy Plaza. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE
SMARTER APPROACH: Donald Perez, Providence Downtown Improvement District safety team leader, uses the SMART system in Kennedy Plaza. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE

When Donald Perez hits the street in downtown Providence wearing his yellow jacket, a utility belt with an iPhone, flashlight, radio, disposable gloves and dining guides, he’s pretty much ready for anything.
“I’ve had people tell me about someone suspicious in a parking lot trying to open cars or about an intoxicated person sleeping in the doorway, or about graffiti,” said Perez, safety team leader for the Downtown Improvement District and one of three people in the city with an iPhone with an app that allows access to the new SMART system.
The three phones are the on-the-street feed in a pilot program launched in Providence by the operations management company Block by Block.
The SMART system connects the Downtown Improvement District ambassadors with city departments and organizations outside the government, such as National Grid. Work orders with the time, date, photos and details whiz through the database-driven SMART system and allow everyone concerned to immediately be part of the process of getting the problem fixed.
“If I see graffiti or a light out, I pull out my phone, take a picture of it, add a short, detailed summary and put in what’s to be done,” Perez said. “Once it’s in the system, we’re all on the same page.”
The work order goes to the police if it’s a safety issue, to National Grid if it’s related to an electrical outage or to Providence Public Works if it’s a city repair issue.
Even though it’s been too short a time to expect major changes since the SMART system launched in October, Lisa Newman Paratore, owner of the Homestyle shop on Westminster Street, said it’s a positive addition for property owners.
“No one has come in and complained lately. So to me that means the yellow jackets are able to handle things much more quickly,” Paratore said of the members of the Downtown Improvement District teams who patrol for cleanliness and safety issues and are known by their bright, yellow attire.
“If they see something, it goes directly into their iPhone and they can get cracking and get it taken care of,” said Paratore, a member of the board of the Downtown Improvement District. “It definitely keeps things from falling off anyone’s radar and it holds everyone accountable. The efficiency of the SMART system in reporting and helping to make sure concerns are taken care of has a positive impact on the bottom line, Paratore said.
“As a business owner, I love it for the safety side and the aesthetic side,” she said. “It keeps the streets safe from potholes and bumps and lumps and it’s in every business owner’s interest to keep everything looking good.”
The Downtown Improvement District has 17 “ambassadors” who wear yellow jackets and serve as combination hospitality and safety personnel, said Operations Manager Frank Zammarelli, who has one of the three iPhones with SMART system access.
Zammarelli said the SMART system is working well.
“I think it’s an excellent program. Operationally, it’s easy to use and very appreciated,” said Zammarelli, a retired Providence police officer. “It saves a lot of time and a lot of paperwork and it’s very accurate.”
Providence was the perfect fit for the trial run of the SMART system, said Block by Block President Jeremy Curran.
Block by Block provides “clean and safe ambassadors” to cities across the country, led by a local manager and staffed by local personnel, Curran said.
“The theory is business improvement districts help to improve the landscape of downtowns, which many people think of as a place where they go to work and then they go home,” Curran said. “At home you pick up a piece of paper or cut the grass. We do that micro work and the city does the macro work, like sweeping the streets and repairing the lights.”
“The SMART system is our technology that we use to track the statistics,” Curran said. “We report how much graffiti was removed and how many times the ambassadors gave people directions to a restaurant.” •

No posts to display