Metro Newsroom
Company Selected to Implement Citywide Alert System
Tuesday September 6, 2011
Will target citizens by text, phone, email
Louisville Metro Government has chosen the company Emergency Communications Network to implement a citywide system to alert citizens by text, email or phone call when disaster strikes.
The contract, $150,000 a year for three years, was awarded last week to the Florida-based company which has an office in Louisville.
“It’s important for citizens to have information quickly when safety is an issue. This new system will allow Metro Government to communicate fast and efficiently,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “It will help keep citizens informed, be it an explosion in Rubbertown or severe weather.”
It will take up to 45 days to implement the new system and citizens will have to voluntarily sign-up to receive the alerts, which can be targeted to a mass audience or specific area, such as neighborhoods. A media and communications campaign will be designed to encourage people to sign up for the alerts.
The goal is to have the system operating by mid to late October.
Emergency Communications Network and its Code Red system is used directly by over 1200 communities in the United States and services hundreds of additional cities through larger contracts that encompass counties and even regions.
It was one of nine companies that submitted proposals to develop and manage Louisville’s new alert system, which the Fischer committed to implementing following the March 21 explosion at Carbide Industries that killed two people.