The Freeholder Board’s Office of Emergency Management has contracted with Emergency Communications Network to license its CodeRED high-speed notification system. The program was previously known as Global Connect. The CodeRED system provides Camden County emergency management officials with the ability to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire county during emergency situations.
Freeholder Scot McCray, liaison to the Camden County OEM, cautioned that such systems are only as good as the telephone number database supporting them.
“If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called,” McCray said. “No one should automatically assume his or her contact information is included, so visit the website and register. CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for inputting how you wish to be contacted in the event of an emergency.”
McCray urges all individuals and businesses to log onto the Camden County website www.camdencounty.com, and follow the link to the “CodeRED Community Notification Enrollment” page. Required information includes first and last name, street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code and primary phone number. The system allows additional phone numbers to be entered as well.
“We are in the age of technology where nearly everyone can be reached instantaneously through cell phones,” McCray said. “This is a great tool for us to provide important information to you and your family during critical events.”
One of the reasons the CodeRED system was selected is it gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly into the system’s database. All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the past year, and those who use a cellular phone or VoIP phone as their primary number. The data collected will only be used for emergency notification purposes
“CodeRED allows geographically based delivery, which means street addresses are required to ensure emergency notification calls are received by the proper individuals in a given situation,” he said. “The system works for cell phones too, but we need to have an associated street address to provide relevant messages.”
The emergency notification system is web-based, affording Camden County officials with the ability to message from any location, at any time of the day or night. As long as there is access to a telephone or computer with Internet access, the public can be notified no matter how extreme the emergency. It also provides the sender with notification if the message has been received, and gives the option to resend.
“This system, combined with our other emergency alert methods, is designed to get critical messages to the public, quickly and effectively,” McCray said. “This does not preclude you from calling 911 for emergencies; it simply provides an opportunity for the county to disseminate critical information if and when the need a
