Simpson County Emergency Management plans to implement a system that will allow the department to notify anyone in the county with a cellphone, including people just passing through, about any emergency that may arise.

Emergency Management Director Robert Palmer said the mass notification system, known as AlertSense, is an improvement over CodeRED, the county’s current system, which can only send notifications to county residents.

“(AlertSense) will let us communicate to cellphones within the service area of the towers of our county even if they’re not from here,” Palmer said.

Both systems can send messages to landlines and cellphones and through social media, Palmer said.

Under the CodeRED system, people who live outside the county can’t receive notifications of disasters or public emergencies in Simpson County, even if they’re within the county’s borders, he said.

A central advantage of AlertSense is that it allows Emergency Management to look out for travelers in the county, such as people driving on Interstate 65, Palmer said.

“It’ll get to everyone locally, but it’s more for people who aren’t subscribed here,” he said.

“If a sinkhole opened up on I-65, we could send a message to people traveling on I-65 to stay off that route,” he said.

AlertSense is also less costly and easier for operators to use, Palmer said.

“It’s a few thousand dollars cheaper per year to use (and) it’s more user-friendly for the operator,” he said.

Palmer said AlertSense will cost the county $6,000 a year. CodeRED costs $9,000 a year.

The cost will be split 50/50 between the county and the city of Franklin, he said.

A tweet Monday from Simpson County Emergency Management encouraged Simpson County residents to sign up for AlertSense, which is supposed to be operational by Jan. 1, so they can receive notice of smaller or more localized emergencies, which would still only be sent to people who sign up for the program who live in an affected area. Notifications would still be sent to every phone in the county for things like AMBER alerts and warnings of large-scale emergencies.

The tweet contained a link to a website where county residents can register for the notification system.

“We’re gathering cellphone information through that link,” he said.

Warren County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Pearson, who has worked for months on getting an AlertSense system for Warren County, said it’s possible that two contiguous counties with the system could collaborate to alert people in each county of emergencies that might cross county borders.

“If Bob (Palmer) has a Simpson County emergency that might affect Warren County, he could extend the message to Warren County,” Pearson said.

Operating a mass notification system like AlertSense requires approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which Simpson County Emergency Management already has and Warren County has applied for, Pearson said.

Pearson expects the approval to be received and the system to be set up and operational by Jan. 1, when he hopes the two counties can roll out their programs together.

– Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.