The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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October 6, 2012

Monroe County backs emergency notification system

CodeRED

From Staff Reports

UNION — The Monroe County Commission and local emergency services officials are asking residents to sign up for a new system providing time-sensitive and vital emergency information.

The county commission has contracted with the Emergency Communications Network to license its CodeRED, a high-speed notification solution that enables local government officials to communicate time- sensitive, personalized messages via voice, e-mail and text. The CodeRED system provides Monroe County officials the ability to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire county.

Tim Wilson, the county’s interim emergency services director, said he is encouraging residents to sign up their phones to the service to receive information about inclement weather, power outages and other emergency situations.

“If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called,” he said. “One of the reasons CodeRED system was selected is it gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly into the system’s database; this is an extremely important feature. No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included.”

According to Wilson, all businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the past year, and all those who use a cellular phone or VoIP phone as their primary number.

Wilson said information taken for the notification system will only be used in the event of an emergency.

“CodeRED allows geographically based delivery, which means street addresses are required to ensure notification calls are received by the proper individuals in a given situation,” he said. “The system works for cell phones too, but we need to have an associated street or physical address to provide relevant messages. CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for inputting information. The data collected will only be used for emergency notification purposes.”

Residents can have their phone number included by logging on to www.monroecountywv.net/CodeRed or calling the Monroe County 911 Center at 304-772-3912, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

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