FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   

Contact:   John Campbell, Lee County Emergency Management, (941) 477-3600
                Larry King, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, (941) 477-1343 

NEW NOTIFICATION SYSTEM WILL ALERT RESIDENTS TO EMERGENCIES

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 28, 2002) – Lee County is close to launching “The Communicator”– a high speed emergency notification system that alerts groups of residents and/or businesses to nearby emergencies. 

Using the system, emergency managers, law enforcement, fire officials and even the school district can notify specific geographic groupings of residents, businesses or public service facilities by telephone about emergencies affecting them, such as brush fires, hazardous chemical leaks, escaped prisoners, Alzheimer’s patients, or a missing child.  The system also will have a bulletin board feature that will allow residents to call a number for recorded information about a particular situation. 

The equipment for the system was installed this week at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.  In addition, software will be installed at Lee County Emergency Management, the Fort Myers Fire Department, the City of Sanibel and the Lee County School District that will allow these agencies access and use of the system. 

It will allow the mass distribution of a recorded phone message to pre-determined listings and groupings or to those in a defined geographic area.  Lee County, the Sheriff’s Office and the City of Sanibel shared in the cost of the hardware.  Other cities and agencies in the county may elect to purchase a seat on the system at a later date.  The system is now in the testing and training phase. 

The telephone number database provided with the system is updated quarterly by Dialogic Communication Corporation.  The database has been pre-filtered to remove extensions in large businesses and hotels in order to reduce the notification time.  The system also has blast faxing and paging capabilities. 

The system is not intended to take the place of information distributed through the media before and during storms and hurricanes.  Residents still need to monitor media outlets during those larger scale emergencies.  However, for other emergencies that impact smaller areas, it will be of great benefit in focusing on those residents and businesses most directly affected.  

Using the system, emergency officials will be able to make about 1,000, 30-second calls within 10 minutes using the local equipment.  For larger notification requirements, the expanded phone bank located at Dialogic Communication Corporation headquarters can be used to supplement the local equipment.  This feature will more than triple the number of calls that can be made during the same timeframe.  Of course, if the message can be shortened, the number of calls will increase.  

Unlisted numbers are not in the database, but can be added if a resident desires.  Instructions for having your unlisted number added to the database will be publicized at a later date. 

This system was first developed in 1982 using the same technology the telemarketing industry used to send out mass telephone solicitations.  That practice was banned, however businesses calling legitimate customers and public safety agencies were exempted.  So, if you receive a recorded call from an official county or city agency, you are encouraged to listen closely to the message.