Would you like to be able to apply for a permit without visiting Town Hall? In the near future, you may be able to.

You should also soon be able to use wireless internet connections at Town Hall and  the Police Station and get text notifications on your cellular phone for emergencies and town events.

Assistant Town Manager Bob LeLacheur said that the town has been working hard for the past few years to update its technology infrastructure, and residents should soon start to see the fruits of those efforts.

Beginning this month, residents should be able to receive notifications about town programs they’re interested in through an addition to the town’s new emergency contact system. 

The new system, called Everbridge, has already been tested to notify residents of emergencies and road repairs in geographically-targeted areas, according to Andrew Scribner, the police department’s business administrator.

Beginning on Town Day, residents will also be able to sign up to use the system to receive email, text message or phone call notifications about changes in programs run by town departments such as the recreation department or elder services department.

While residents will immediately benefit from some of the town’s recent upgrades, they may not notice others directly.

“It’s not about the software, the hardware or even the careful planning that goes on,” LeLacheur said. “It’s all about communication.”

Internal upgrades will include a system for allowing authorized town employees to bring secure information off-site and the “virtualization” of town computers.

“It’s much more like going back to the mainframe days, which is where we should have stayed all along,” LeLacheur said.

Centralizing the town’s programming, he said, will ease computer maintenance costs and drastically cut the cost of replacement.

Currently, he said, it costs the town about $1,000 to replace an independent computer. After virtual zing the system, he said, that cost should drop close to $300.