Montgomery County has launched a new mass notification system for emergency alerts.
The Code RED system, a product of software company OnSolve, will be activated during severe weather or other emergency situations and used to mobilize SWAT or CERT responses and snow plows. It uses the same technology as Everbridge, the county’s previous notification tool, which sends location-based alerts to subscribers.
If a tornado is spotted in New Ross, for example, a notification is sent only to subscribers in the immediate area. The free alerts are sent by phone, text message or e-mail.
“The last mass notification system we had — it was a good system, but it was almost too much and it was hard to maneuver on the public side and on the private side,” said Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency Director Shari Harrington, who presented the new tool to the Board of Commissioners on Monday.
The county was also looking for a less expensive system: Code RED costs $9,000 to implement, a savings of about $4,000. The county is paying an additional $1,000 to provide access to GIS maps for emergency responders.
Initial funding comes through a grant from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
Harrington worked with the county’s mapping department, emergency dispatch center, highway department and county administrator’s office to launch the system.
Residents can text moco54 to 99411 or call Harrington at 765-364-5154 to sign up for alerts. Subscribers of the Everbridge notifications will have to re-register under the new system.
A system-wide test will be conducted sometime within the next month, Harrington said.
In other business, commissioners:
• Reappointed Jack Whitecotton to another three-year term on the Sugar Creek Advisory Board. Commissioners had reappointed member David Hadley to the board, but Hadley’s term does not expire until 2022. The citizen-led board advises commissioners about preserving and protecting the creek.
