City introduces CodeRED calling system

CodeRED calls residents when emergency situations occur within their area.

"CodeRED quickly alerts residents and businesses inside Dyersburg City Limits when an emergency is occurring," said Dyersburg Mayor John Holden. "This is another tool to provide better communications to our citizens."

Operated by Emergency Communications Network, Inc., the system has been used in other cities to warn citizens of fire and flood disasters, hazardous materials incidents, missing children or elderly residents, major utility service interruptions, health issues, neighborhood events and changes in city services. The system can also be used internally to alert police officers, firefighters and other city employees when extra help is needed.

The City of Dyersburg used its CodeRED system in two capacities on Monday evening when the Bekaert building caught fire.

"This was the first time we had the opportunity to use the new system," said 911 Communications Manager Mark Grant. "We used it to do a recall for a shift for the fire department and it worked much faster. We even used the mapping to alert the residents in the path of the smoke and it was much faster than the other system."

The city made the decision to upgrade its notification system from City Watch to CodeRED when the contract for City Watch was fulfilled.

"It's the same price, but far superior service," said Grant. "We've been very impressed with it, even with this small notification. With CodeRED, we can get the alert information people need to them simultaneously on their phones, text messages and e-mails."

The CodeRED system is Web-based and can be activated by authorized personnel from any Internet-accessible location. The system has the capacity of dialing approximately 1,000 phone numbers per minute and has made as many as 2 million calls in a single day.

"We will take a very close look at using CodeRED to augment our tornado sirens," said Grant, who said the system's ability to make so many calls simultaneously makes it a valuable asset for storms in early warning situations. "The city already has an outdoor warning siren system for tornadoes and other emergencies. However, that system can only alert people to go indoors and listen to local media for further information and instructions. Also, the sirens often cannot be heard indoors and may not be effective if people are sleeping or in a noisy environment."

Grant said that most National Weather Service tornado warnings provide an average early warning lead of approximately 20 minutes before the storm system hits the target area. The CodeRED system can deliver a tornado alert message to the entire City of Dyersburg in just seven minutes.

"When we have that kind of advanced warning, then CodeRED may be used to alert the residents," said Grant, who cautioned that the system could not be used for tornadoes when there was not enough of an advanced warning.

The CodeRED system is designed to dial landline, voice over Internet protocol telephones and cell phones. The city already has a database of landline numbers and addresses.

"In order for calls to be completed to VOIP telephones or cell phones, then you must register your VOIP or cell phone number and address," said Grant. "This can be accomplished by visiting www.dyersburgtn.gov. Just follow the link for CodeRED."

The service is only available for residents who live within the City of Dyersburg.