County’s new Alert Sense app to be rolled out Jan. 1
Published 7:45 am Tuesday, December 5, 2017
- Warren County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Pearson and administrative specialist Melissa Moore check out some of the functions of the new Alert Sense mobile app.
Soon, alerts about everything from severe weather to traffic snarls and even your grandson’s Pee Wee League baseball game will be as close as your pocket.
After weeks of training and fine-tuning, Warren County Emergency Management will roll out to the public on Jan. 1 the new Alert Sense mobile app that will allow residents to receive updates about emergencies and other events on their smartphones.
The app has been under development since Warren County Fiscal Court approved a two-year, $19,995-per-year contract with Alert Sense in August.
“Multi-modal communication is a key in emergency management,” said Melissa Moore, administrative specialist in the emergency management office. “This (Alert Sense) allows us to alert the public in different ways and in the ways they choose.”
Warren County residents can get the free app now for Apple or Android devices, and they can sign up for specific notifications by going to this website: http://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/?regionid=1362.
Alert Sense is the latest step in the evolution of public notification, Emergency Management Office Director Ronnie Pearson said.
“This is the latest technology used in getting information out to the public,” said Pearson, who has been with the office for 21 years. “Twenty years ago, one of the progressive things we did was the outdoor warning system. That led to us getting indoor warning sirens as well.”
Warren County now has 31 Community Outdoor Warning System and 250 Community Activated Lifesaving Voice Emergency System sites that alert residents about severe weather.
“Monitoring for severe weather was the thing back in the day,” Pearson said. “We’re not abandoning our outdoor or indoor notification systems, but now everybody has a smartphone. From a financial standpoint, we can reach more people with Alert Sense.
“We’ll roll it out Jan. 1. We hope to get a good reception from the public.”
Touting its functionality, Moore said Alert Sense could become the latest must-have app. She explained that users can sign up to receive alerts that go far beyond severe weather to include such events as chemical spills, prison escapes and active-shooter incidents.
The county parks and recreation department plans to use the app for mass notification of schedule changes and other events.
“When we have wet fields or storms, we can notify everyone involved that the games are canceled,” said Parks and Recreation Director Chris Kummer.
Coordinating with the federal Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, Alert Sense can even customize alerts based on addresses and cellphone tower locations.
“This allows us to send out alerts even if you’re not signed up for the app,” Moore explained. “Any cellphone that has logged on to a particular cell tower will receive the alert.”
Moore said Alert Sense users can opt to receive any combination of texts, emails or phone messages. She said residents who don’t have internet or smartphone access can sign up and have their land-line phone receive emergency calls.
Alert Sense even has the option of sending messages in languages other than English.
“We have a large international population,” Moore said. “We can make it an option for them to receive notifications in their native language.”
Moore said the app is interactive, giving users the option of responding to polls and even sending information such as photos to specific county departments.
“We’re still developing stuff we can do with it,” she said. “We’ve only been training on it since September. We’re finding new ways to use it every day.”