LEYDEN — A reverse 911 system that will allow the town to alert residents of emergency situations is in the works, and is expected to be complete by the end of February or early March.
The Selectboard heard from Police Chief Daniel Galvis — who is acting as Leyden’s field representative for the safety technology provider, Rave Mobile Safety — about the system’s progress during its meeting Monday night.
“I’ve been going through all their training,” Galvis said.
Residents voted to appropriate $3,000 to join the program for an initial one-year period during a Special Town Meeting in the fall. Once implemented, the reverse 911 system will allow the town to alert residents to the risk of danger by sending a message to registered landline phones or cellphones within a defined geographical area.
Galvis said 29 residents had signed up for the system as of Monday night. Residents can sign up by visiting bit.ly/2uvBgZv.
Townspeople can choose to give their information — including landline phone number, cellphone number, email and home address — to receive emergency alerts. When signing up, residents will have the option to select their preferred method of notification. They can also add their social media information as a mode of notification.
All information input when signing up is optional. Residents also have the option to input their medical information or mobility issues, which will not be accessible to town officials, Galvis said. Instead, the information may be seen by emergency dispatchers to improve response should someone call for help.
Galvis, in his role as emergency management director, and the Selectboard will be authorized to create the outgoing emergency messages, Galvis said. He said he is constructing message templates to access in case of a variety of situations, such as power outages from downed wires or major accidents and blocked roads.
“You can also break down areas of the town by street, for example, or even by the people,” Galvis said.
For typical reverse 911 systems, he said, known issues involve communicating to residents who do not speak English or those who are hard of hearing. Additionally, a reverse 911 call can appear on Caller ID as a long-distance number, leading residents to ignore the call.
By sending a text message or email, the system circumvents the issue of being hard of hearing or ignoring a verbal message. According to Rave Mobile Safety’s website, the reverse 911 system can also auto-translate emergency alerts into 34 languages.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.