GREENFIELD — Public safety officials have announced the start of a new emergency alert system for residents, which they say will be more effective than the city’s current option.
Residents can sign up for the Greenfield Alert system, which will send notifications of emergencies and other city-related notifications to users. The system is powered by Smart911, a national company that provides options to enhance emergency response and alerts.
It is free to sign up for Greenfield Alert, which can be done at greenfield-ma.gov/alert, or by texting “Greenfield” to 67283. Costs would be incurred only if your cell phone plan charges for messages.
The system works by notifying users who signed up through emails, text messages or voice announcements of emergencies and other city announcements.
Greenfield Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Robert Strahan said the new system will be an improvement over the previous option, Code Red, due to both lower cost and more options for residents and public safety and city officials.
The cost will be annual for the city, he said, though the price tag was not available.
Residents can receive more notifications through the program than Code Red provides, as well.
“It offers more options for residents,” Public Safety Commission Chairman Robert “Butch” Hawkins said. “They can get some (Department of Public Works) alerts, road closings, bridge closings, weather alerts. You can choose some of the items you want or don’t want.”
Those who sign up for the system must provide a first and last name, phone number and create a user name and password. You can also opt to use an email. Strahan said the information is kept private.
Once signed up, you can choose which alerts you receive from the program, as well as how you prefer to receive them and in what language.
Strahan said the system added about 9,000 landline phone numbers when it was started in the city. These numbers were added if they were part of public records, he said, such as in the phone book.
Even if your phone number was part of the roughly 9,000, though, Strahan urges residents to create a profile and set up your preferences.
Reach Dan Desrochers at:
ddesrochers@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 257