Phone alert system coming

 

 

By Richard Mullins
Democrat and Chronicle

 

(March 18, 2003) — Monroe County is developing a system that could place direct phone calls with a prerecorded message to every listed and unlisted phone number in the county. The phone system could be used in event of an emergency, such as a terrorist attack or a missing child.

The system could be operational by the end of April and could place calls throughout the area or could be tailored to one area, such as a neighborhood.

“Everyone’s thinking has changed since Sept. 11 (2001), and we want to do things differently and better,” said John Merklinger, director of county emergency communications.

“We could use this for things like an accident at the Ginna nuclear power plant, or the recent CSX train crash to call everyone in Charlotte and give them information, or if need be, evacuation routes,” he said.

Many Southern states use such systems to warn residents of hurricanes, Merklinger said. But this would be the first of its type in the Rochester area.

Monroe County has contracted with The Asher Group in Pittsford to build and maintain the system.

“This can target people very effectively for messages, unlike a massive siren,” said Sam Asher, company president. “People may just not have their television sets turned on.”

TTY and other systems for the hearing impaired would be included in the system. But cellular phones, fax machines and many office phones may not be included because they operate on different networks, Merklinger said.

Asher said listed and unlisted numbers would be available only to county officials, not to his company.

The plan would require the cooperation of Frontier, whose officials declined comment, pending approval of the plan by the state Public Service Commission. PSC documents show Frontier is seeking regulations that would bar using the numbers except in an emergency.

State officials are to vote today on how much Frontier could charge the county for each call.