PORT TOWNSEND — A new messaging system that automatically warns subscribers about public safety hazards is in use by the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management.
“We have been looking for a ‘reverse 9-1-1’ system to keep citizens informed for some time,” said department director William Hamlin.
“This fits the bill, and it isn’t costing us anything.”
The service, called Nixle, is a commercial venture designed for large companies to distribute information, but is offered free of charge to municipalities for public safety purposes.
It requires users to provide their names, addresses and the numbers of text-enabled cell phones on a website.
Whenever there is an event the public needs to be aware of, subscribers receive a short text message with instructions.
There are no commercials sent along with the messages, which Hamlin said was an important factor in selecting the service.
“People don’t need to get any other information from these messages,” he said. “It would distract them from the emergency.”
Four priorities
Four message priorities are used: alerts (urgent information), advisories (important and time-sensitive), community (general interest) and traffic (unique traffic notices).
Hamlin plans judicious use of the service, sending only emergency messages.
“The more messages you send out, the less effective they are,” he said.
“We are not going to send out a lot of low-level stuff.”
The county has been quietly testing the service for several months, and is now ready for a larger rollout.
It has gathered about 500 subscribers, and Hamlin hopes to increase that number tenfold.
But even as these numbers stand today, the service is already useful.
“Each of these 500 people represents a family and they have friends,” he said.
“So the message’s reach grows exponentially.”
While there is no sign-up fee, users pay the regular text-messaging rates imposed by their cell phone providers.
Hamlin said that a text-based system is most effective because a decreasing number of people rely on — or even have — land lines.
The communication also is more likely to reach the recipient, as people typically carry their cell phones with them.
Hamlin said an unintended advantage of the system is the ability for family members to opt-in emergency messages from locations where their children or grandchildren reside “so they can know if their kids are safe.”
Clallam has service
Nixle also is available to residents of Clallam County.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and Port Angeles Police Department also participate in the system, and send out text and e-mail messages such as weather alerts and information about such matters as scams, missing children and blocked roads.
Nixle is a partner with Nlets, the International Public Safety and Justice Network, said the private company on its website at www.nixle.com.
Nlets is an international, computer-based message switching system that links local, state and federal law enforcement and justice agencies for the purpose of exchanging information, and Nixle’s servers are housed within the Nlets secure facility, the website said.
To sign up for alerts from any agency, go to www.nixle.com and select the “start receiving alerts today” tab.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
