CodeRED Coming To Your Phone

The Municipal Light Commission voted Wednesday to pay half of the $12,600 it will cost to install a reverse 911 emergency notification system in town. The Water and Sewer Commission will be asked to pay the balance when it meets next month.

The town has selected CodeRED, a division of Emergency Communications Network of Ormond Beach, Fla., to provide the reverse 911 call system. The company, which has calling centers in several locations, delivers customized recorded messages at high speeds directly to thousands of homes and businesses.

"I was pretty impressed with what it (the system) can do," said Robert Jolly, the light department's general manager.  

The commission could have opted for a system that costs less initially, but the $12,600 price includes unlimited calling. The cheapest price was $9,500 and a mid-priced system was $11,000, all offered by the same company. But these prices were for a limited number of calls.

The system, which will take only a few days to install, will compile a database of all phone numbers for town residents. Residents can also ask that they be notified on their cell phones, by text message or by email. They may also ask not to be notified of an emergency.

The system will be available for all town departments, but will be tightly held, Jolly said. The primary departments expected to use the system are those that provide the most essential services, including public health, police, fire, water and municipal lighting. He said that the light department might use the system to alert residents when there is a power outage and tell them how long it will take to restore power.

A similar system was used in Boston's water emergency to alert residents to boil their drinking water.

The system will not be used to make routine announcements, Jolly said. He expects a committee of town officials will be created to supervise the system, although most department heads will be authorized to initiate an alert.

The CodeRED system combines mapping and database technologies to alert residents in targeted geographic areas. The system will also notify specific people, such as off-duty personnel and neighborhood watch members, mobilizing them for emergency response.