Perry County Implements ALERT FM as an Emergency Notification Platform
Residents, businesses, schools, and first responders to benefit
Marion, Alabama-April 1, 2011- Emergency Management Director, DeAndrae Kimbrough, announced today that Perry County has successfully implemented ALERT FM- FM radio-based emergency notification system- as a county-wide notification platform.
ALERT FM will allow Kimbrough and his emergency management team to send targeted information directly to residents, schools, businesses, and/or first responders. Information might include severe weather warnings, school closings, road closures, and other emergency information.
“We are excited to be using ALERT FM,” Kimbrough said. “It will allow our residents to get up-to-date information from my office as well as weather warning from the National Weather Service.”
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 counties are WNPT (102.9), WTUG (92.9), WAPI (100.5), WBFZ (105.3), WINL (98.5), WDXX (100.1), and WALX (100.9). These overlapping stations ensure message distribution over a large “FM footprint” which gives Kimbrough the potential to reach the 10,643 residents in mere seconds.
To receive this potentially life-saving information, residents and businesses will need purchase an ALERT FM receiver. Receivers are portable, light-weight, and easy to program. They can be purchased at Selma Communications for around $40 with no recurring service.
“ALERT FM provides valuable information to residents and business of Perry County no matter if they are at home or work or traveling throughout the neighboring Black Belt or coastal counties,” Jim Lowery, general manager of Global Security Systems, LLC (manufacturer of ALERT FM).
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, residents, 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 40 million people in 14 states have access to ALERT FM technology.
perry AFM announcement release.pdf (73.95 kb)