ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - Alachua County Emergency Management recently acquired the CodeRED high speed notification system. CodeRED will provide Alachua County officials the ability to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire County.
David Donnelly, Alachua County Emergency Management Chief, cautions that such systems are only as good as the telephone number database supporting them. "If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called." One of the features that the CodeRED system has is the ability for individuals and businesses to add their own phone numbers directly into the system's database.
"No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included," Donnelly said urging all individuals and businesses to visit the Community Notification Enrollment webpage and include their information. Those without Internet access or have questions, may call Alachua County Emergency Management at 352-264-6500, Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to supply their information over the phone. Required information includes first and last name, street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code, and primary phone number, additional phone numbers can be entered as well.
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 those who use a cellular phone or VoIP phone as their primary number.
Donnelly explained, "CodeRED allows geographically based delivery, which means street addresses are required to ensure emergency notification calls are received by the proper individuals in a given situation. The system works for cell phones too, but we need to have an associated street address to provide relevant messages."
Donnelly stated that, "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."
For more information about CodeRED, click here.
For more information, contact Alachua County Emergency Management at 352-264-6500.