Columbus, North Carolina – April 11, 2014 – Polk County has contracted with Emergency Communications Network to license its CodeRED high-speed notification solution.
The CodeRED system provides city and county officials the ability to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire city or county.
Bobby Arledge, Polk County’s Emergency Management Director, cautioned 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 reasons the CodeRED system was selected is it gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly into the system’s database, this is an extremely important feature.
“No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included,” Arledge said urging all individuals and businesses to log onto the Polk County’s website, www.polknc.org and go to the Emergency Management/Fire Marshal page, follow the link to the “CodeRED Community Notification Enrollment” page. Those without Internet access may call Polk County Emergency Management Office  828-894-6342, Monday through Friday, (8 a.m. – 4:30 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.
Arledge 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.”
Arledge stated, “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.” Questions should be directed to the Polk County Emergency Management Office, 828-894-6342.
About Emergency Communications Network Headquartered in Ormond Beach, Fla., Emergency Communications Network, LLC (ECN) has pioneered high-speed emergency notification services capable of reaching millions of citizens in minutes.
ECN’s sophisticated network supports a web-based product suite featuring four major services: CodeRED® which enables local government officials to communicate time-sensitive, personalized messages via voice, email and text messaging; CodeRED Weather Warning™ which provides automated alerts to citizens in the path of severe weather just moments after a warning has been issued by the National Weather Service; My Daily Call™ for scheduling calls to check on at-risk individuals, including the elderly, infirm and latchkey kids; and CodeED® for use by school systems to improve communications with their communities.
To learn more, visit www.ecnetwork.com.

– article submitted
by Bobby Arledge