A primary concern for any park, playground or golf course is safety of citizens that patron them. Citizens are more likely to patron parks where there is convenience as well as the safety of intercom systems available to them periodically. This is a quick how-to guide for a citizen so that they may create a Fund Request Proposal to put forward and improve the safety.
Often the citizen is tempted to suggest the installation of phone booths as it is easier to get phone line budget funds than wireless system budget funding. This is a mistake, as this can lead to those phone booths being used for drug dealing. Intercom systems that link directly back to a security center or central hub can fulfill the same needs as a phone system without attracting nefarious crowds to isolated areas.
1. Get Proposal Requirements from City Hall. All organizations have some rules for how they want proposals submitted to them. Some even have formats on how they must look. You can often find this information on their website or through a quick call to their front desk. Some require specific items of information and some have no requirements other than the proposal be typed and on 8 ½ by 11 sheets of paper. Make sure you know their requirements are first! This is an unsolicited proposal you are creating so pay attention to that section of the instructions.
2. Map Your Park or Golf Course Out. Define the terrain and where people congregate the most. Is there an older system in place? Is it still functional or does that older system need replacing? Get the older system specifications to see if it can be integrated with today’s newer technology. You can request older system specifications and park layout at city hall. Note the most remote areas that you want to be included on the system. More and more cities are going “green” some of the newer technologies support this with solar powered wireless call boxes. Ascertain if each of the areas has AC available or if solar power better fits the needs and goals of the park.
3. Define Level and Type of Events: Take a look at your trails, golf course greens, playgrounds, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, maintenance buildings, tennis courts, basketball courts, parking lots, visitor sitting areas and concession stands. Do they all need wireless call box stations? How far is one intercom station from the next? How reliable is your ground staff and how much of your equipment “walks” or is broken on a regular basis? Does your staff need a mixture of wireless and wired call-box intercom system? Do they need a handheld two way radio to communicate with the intercoms? A golf event requires both wireless handsets and call boxes while soccer matches on 3 fields close to the concession stand probably will just need call-boxes. Consider how many of the wireless intercom system units will be outdoors and subject to the weather.
4. Creating Your Hardware List for the Funding Proposal: At this point you should have a pretty good idea of what your needs are in a communication system. Now you need an expert who will help you choose the correct intercom system parts to create an integrated system. You need to list these in your proposal. A good site to go to is http://www.intercomsonline.com. They have a variety of different wireless and wired intercom systems to choose from. They also have a strong customer support system that can help you develop a seamless intercom communication system. You can use a prepared invoice and product information sheets as part of your hardware budget request.
5. Creating Your Construction List for the Funding Proposal: Using the information you got from the sales representative, look at how much modification you need to do to the park or golf course. Do you need to remove all of the older system or just some of it? Do you need to erect a pole to mount any units on it? How fast does this need to happen? How long do they have to complete the job? What special equipment will they need to provide? Who is responsible for clean up and carting away of any debris or old hardware? Will it require little or no modifications to your facilities at all? If there are significant modifications, you will need to call a few local constructions companies and get estimates. Make sure they are certified to work on parks, playgrounds and golf courses. Ask them to see their permits and get copies of those permits!
6. Creating Your Manpower Lists for Your Funding Proposal: Using the information from your construction estimates, create a quick organization chart for your project. This can be very simple. You need to include a project manager, a safety and health inspector and who is the construction crew. Most often times the construction/installation company can provide you with all the names and their jobs.
7. Creating Your Timeline Your Funding Proposal: Using the information from your construction estimates, create a quick milestone timeline for your project. Most of the time your construction crew can provide the bulk of this document as well. You need check to make sure it includes items like start date, meetings, purchase date, delivery dates for the different hardware, removal of older hardware, installation of new hardware, safety inspections, permitting tests and finally operations. Make sure you list start and end dates for each item and who is responsible for seeing each action accomplished.
8. Creating Your Justification for the Funding Proposal: This can be very short and sweet. If you have done your homework, the bottom-line is defined; you do not need to refer to that except for once or twice. You do need to show how city park safety and efficiency will be improved by installing a new system or upgrading the old one. This is simply a set of statistics or photos of old and unusable equipment. This is probably what spurred the request in the first place.
9. Creating a Funding Proposal Package: This also does not need to be overly fancy. Funding approval committees like defined and well presented proposals that are short and sweet. Do not use the “thump” factor by overloading them with garbage. Use this general format but check with your local city hall as special requirements for proposal
Letter of Introduction (who you are, why your concerned, why you are proposing this as a citizen)
Cover page (title, date, subject, who is submitting, to whom it is submitted)
Table of Contents
Justification
Manpower
Timeline
Overall Budget
Supporting documents: Hardware costs (invoice and product specification sheets), construction estimates
Now it is up to you to present it. Remember to emphasize your safety as a primary concern for wanting this installed.
AUTOPOST by BEDEWY VISIT GAHZLY
