City approves contract with CodeRED

MELISSA MINUTE
DECEMBER, 2007
City Council Approves Contract with CodeRED, Weather Warning
What if an emergency situation arose in Melissa and all or portions of the city were affected?
How can people be notified? The City has implemented a new tool called CodeRED, an
emergency notification system capable of placing up to 60,000 telephone calls per hour. A
pre-recorded message will be delivered telling residents and businesses about the situation
and what action needs to be taken if any. When a situation arises in Melissa, City staff will
turn to the Internet and the CodeRED mapping tools to designate a call area based on addresses.
With the push of a few buttons, a pre-recorded message describing the situation
will be delivered to a live person or an answering machine in the affected area, possibly including instructions requiring action on
the part of the recipient. CodeRED is a geographical based system where street addresses are needed to select the telephone numbers
that will receive emergency notification calls. A calling database has been supplied by Emergency Communications Network
with the best known phone numbers for the addresses in Melissa; however this calling list does not initially contain unlisted or cellular
telephone numbers. Beginning in January, residents and businesses may add their numbers to the calling database by
clicking on the CodeRED icon on the City of Melissa website (www.cityofmelissa.com) and following the instructions. No one
should automatically assume his or her telephone number is included. All businesses should register, as well as all
individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, those who have changed their phone number or address within the last year and
those who use a cellular phone as their home phone. The system works with cellular phones but requires a Melissa street address.
People who have recently moved to the City but kept the same listed or unlisted number will need to input their current address
into the database. When entering information, please fill out all of the screens. The newest data entered will replace the old data.
CodeRED will be used for emergencies or disasters that might call for action like evacuation, sheltering in place, or boiling contaminated
water, but may also be used in situations that are non-emergency related. For more information about CodeRED, call
the City at 972-838-2338.
Quick Facts
• CodeRED and Weather Warning are both mass notification
tools.
• CodeRED will primarily be used to disseminate emergency
information but may also be used to send general information
to the community.
• Weather Warning is an opt-in service where subscribers
will receive a message when the National Weather Service
issues an alert that may impact Melissa.
• BOTH SERVICES ARE FREE.
• CodeRED will deliver a database for use by the City. Residents
can enter their information to ensure the data listed
for them is accurate. Resident entered information will take
precedence over any other database.
• Opting in for the Weather Warning can be done while entering
information for CodeRED.
• The City will initiate any call from CodeRED, but the National
Weather Service will initiate any calls for those who
opt in to Weather Warning.
• CodeRED can contact a designated area of the City or the
entire City depending on the situation.
Weather Warning
Weather Warning is an early warning system designed to
deliver severe weather warnings to your telephone within
seconds after being issued by the National Weather Service
(NWS). Subscribers to Weather Warning service receive recorded
message alerts anytime severe weather threatens their
local area...24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Weather
Warning would initiate a call for 3 types of severe
weather: Tornado, Flash Flood, and Severe Thunderstorm
warnings. The system is designed to call each subscriber once
per hour (per event); even if duplicate warnings have been
issued. Weather Warning calls are only delivered for severe
weather WARNINGS. Weather Warning calls are
not delivered for severe weather WATCHES.