Haywood County Utilizes ALERT FM Technology
First responders, schools, businesses, and citizens to benefit

Brownsville, Tennessee- March 11, 2010-Haywood County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) announced today that they have fully implemented and installed ALERT FM- an FM radio-based emergency notification system-as part of their emergency notification capabilities. The system was paid for using a NWS weather service grant obtained by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.  

This new technology will allow citizens, schools, and businesses to receive severe weather warnings directly from the National Weather Service as well as targeted information such as school closings and evacuation notices directly from Robert Parks, EMA director, and his emergency management team.

“I am very excited about Haywood County using ALERT FM,” Parks said. “With one system, we can supply are citizens with up-to-date NWS severe weather warnings and local critical information.”

To receive NWS weather warnings and other local information, citizens, schools, and businesses must be equipped with an ALERT FM receiver. Receivers are portable, light weight, and easy to program. Receivers are available at The Economy Store or at www.alertfm.com for around $40 with no recurring fees after purchase.   

 ALERT FM is unique compared to other notification systems because it delivers messages using the data subcarrier of local FM radio transmission towers. The use of this pre-existing network of FM towers provides overlapping signal coverage for the area. FM stations currently participating
in the ALERT FM network for the county are WTBG (95.3), WKNP (90.1), WWGM (93.1), and WAUV (893.7). These overlapping stations ensure message distribution over a large “FM footprint” which gives EMA the potential to reach the county’s 19,024 citizens in mere seconds.

Additionally, the EMA system will be fully compatible with the ALERT FM systems implemented in other counties around the Mid-South, Western Tennessee, and across the entire State of Mississippi.  Any ALERT FM receiver is fully functional in these areas provided it is programmed for that local area. 

“ALERT FM provides valuable information to citizens and business of Haywood County no matter if they are at home or work or traveling throughout the surrounding counties,” Jim Lowery, general manager of Global Security Systems, LLC.

For more information visit www.alertfm.com.

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About ALERT FM
ALERT FM is owned and operated by Global Security Systems, LLC (GSS) of Jackson, Miss. It is a personal alert and messaging system that enables state and local government and private sector officials to create and send emergency information to targeted recipients. Potential information includes severe weather warnings, homeland security notices, hurricane evacuation instructions, utility notices, plant or school closings, employee notifications and traffic alerts. First responders, school officials, citizens, and businesses can receive this information based on geographic or organizational groupings through specially designed ALERT FM receivers or any device equipped with a standard FM chip. ALERT FM has been implemented at the university, state, county and multi-county levels. More than 30 million people in 13 states have access to ALERT FM technology.

haywood AFM announcement press release.pdf (70.91 kb)

article from Radio World- March 10, 2010

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/rw_20100310/index.php?startid=26#/26

From the Paris Post-Intelligencer, Thursday March 4, 2010  http://www.parispi.net/articles/2010/03/04/news/local_news/doc4b8fed8b2dadf743140214.prt

Paris TN: Henry County Emergency Management says new Alert FM radio system now operational in Henry County

By GLENN TANNER
P-I Staff Writer

The Henry County Emergency Management Agency has a new way of getting vital information to the public.

The agency recently installed a new Alert FM notification system at its office at 575 Cedar St. north of Paris.

The new system allows Henry County Emergency Management Director Ronald Watkins to use existing FM radio towers to send text messages about emergency conditions ranging from tornadoes to Amber Alerts.

Watkins said about 100 new receivers from Alert FM already have been distributed to area schools, day care and health care facilities, nursing homes and government buildings.

The portable receivers also are available for purchase to any citizen or business at a cost of $40.

Using a Web portal accessible from the Henry County EMA office, messages can be sent to all Alert FM receivers in the county, or just a specific area or group.

An alert tone notifies users that a new message has been received.

“Alert FM is a great addition to our existing notification system,” Watkins said. “We will be able to send up-to-date priority information to not only first responders, but (also) citizens as well.”

The system is intended to work hand-in-hand with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radios currently in use.

NOAA radios broadcast weather alerts to a specific area, and are activated from the NOAA office in Memphis.

Alert FM notification will be sent from a computer at the EMA office. Watkins said once use of the radios spreads locally, he hopes to be able to use them for more than weather alerts.

“We can put in road closures, we can put in school closures, we can put in any specific information that we want to disseminate to the public,” he said.

The system uses a data frequency from area radio stations WFGS at 103.7 FM, and WLZK at 94.1 FM.

Watkins said Alert FM radios currently are available online at www.alertfm.com. He hopes to have a local vendor for the receivers soon.