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.