Code RED
Polk County Enterprise, July 2007

LIVINGSTON — A new emergency notification service known as CodeRED will be installed for City of Livingston residents over the next few weeks, allowing city officials to deliver up to 30,000 calls per hour to notify residents of any crisis situation, Assistant City Manager Gaffney Phillips announced this week.

Phillips described CodeRED as an outbound 911 service that can contact residents citywide or in narrow areas of the city.

In case of an emergency, prerecorded emergency messages will be delivered directly to homes and businesses, according to Phillips.

In cases where the number dialed is not answered by a live individual, messages will be left on answering machines.

Several Texas cities now use the program to issue weather-related warnings, incidents that require shelter or evacuation, downed power lines and Amber alerts, city officials said.
All City of Livingston utility customers will receive a form by mail within the next few days, or they can complete the form on the city's website www.cityoflivingston-tx.com.

Listings will not be automatically included in the system, Phillips added.

Those resident and business owners who want to receive emergency notices will need to provide contact information on the form. Information will include the name, physical address and telephone numbers to be used.

All information provided will only be used for emergency notification purposes, Phillips said.

As telephone numbers or physical addresses change, participants will need to update
their information with the city.

A test run of the system is planned as soon as the database is complete. Advance notice of the test will be printed in the Polk County Enterprise and broadcast on KETX radio.