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Alert system looks to include cell phone users: Reverse 911 notice gets out quicker
Nov 03, 2009 (The Monterey County Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
When Monterey County introduced its emergency telephone notification system in 2009, it reduced the need for door-to-door canvassing to deliver important messages to people.
But until now, county residents had to have a land-line phone to receive the calls.
Under an initiative to reach every resident, officials launched a campaign Wednesday encouraging people to register their cell phone numbers so they can be included in the notification database.
The system, called AlertMontereyCounty, can also send alerts to Voice over IP phones and e-mail addresses as long as users add them to a database that requires a physical address.
Lynn Diebold, county director of emergency communications, said events that can trigger the alerts include ordered evacuations because of wildfires or floods, toxic chemical spills, natural disasters and power outages.
She stressed the need for people who don't have a land-line phone to make sure they are not left out.
"There won't be an opportunity for them to get a message that perhaps all their neighbors around them are getting," Diebold said.
She said the messages can be sent to specific geographic areas and reduce the need for emergency workers to canvass entire areas. Instead, emergency responders can focus on checking addresses where they know alerts were not sent.
Marina Police Chief Eddie Rodriguez, president of the Monterey County Chief Law Enforcement Officers Association, said telephone messages can help
police when they need to give people instructions while searching for dangerous suspects, missing persons or kidnapped children.
"It's a fast way to get the word out to the masses in a short period of time," he said.
The system, which is essentially a reverse 911 phone call, is connected to a service in Ohio making it possible for alerts to be sent out as long as there is one working phone line in the county, Diebold said.
The messages will be composed by someone in the county familiar with the emergency situation.
Diebold said the county and every city in it are using the system and will share in the annual cost, which is about $240,000.
Alert messages can be sent in any language, but are generally done in English and Spanish, Diebold said.
The emergency notification system has been used several times since its introduction, including last year's Indians and Basin Complex fires, Diebold said.
She said the intent has always been to make the alerts available to non-land-line telephone users, but the system was rolled out earlier than planned because of the wildland fires.
Diebold said staff at libraries in the county can assist anyone who needs help registering for the service.
To register a cell phone number, Voice over IP phones and e-mail addresses to receive emergency notifications, see www.AlertMontereyCounty.org.
Daniel Lopez can be reached at 646-4494 or dlopez@montereyherald.com.
To see more of the Monterey County Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go
to http://www.montereyherald.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Monterey County
Herald, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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