For Immediate Release

PRESS CONTACT:  Stuart Brown, Township Manager

                                 (732) 583-4200, ext. 118

ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP TO OFFER NEW, HIGH-SPEED

TELEPHONE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

         ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP (11/27/07) – Aberdeen Township has contracted with Emergency Communications Network, Inc., of Ormond Beach, Fla., for its “CodeRED” high-speed telephone emergency notification services.

             Expected to become operational in December, the system gives township officials the ability to deliver pre-recorded emergency telephone notification/information messages to targeted areas or the entire township at a rate of up to 1,000 calls per minute.

            CodeRED replaces the current emergency notification system implemented by the Township in 2004. “This new platform offers many advantages over the existing system, first and foremost, extremely fast notification,” said Aberdeen Chief of Police John T. Powers. “With CodeRED, the entire township can be called in under ten minutes versus several hours under the previous system.”

          Moreover, the system enables residents to be reached at numbers in addition to their home phone, including mobile and work numbers. Other benefits include the ability for calls to be mapped by designated users from any internet connection and initiated outside of police headquarters (i.e., emergency locations, officials’ homes). Finally, no local phone lines are used to make the calls, nor is any hardware or equipment tied up locally. Calls are sent from a secure remote location using sophisticated equipment that enables 60,000 calls per hour.

            As a geographical-based notification system, street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls in a given situation.  While the system also works with cell phones, a street address is still needed. 

           Councilman Vincent Vinci, a retired member of the Aberdeen Police Department, cautioned that such systems are only as good as the telephone database supporting them. “If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called and if your address has changed, that information should be updated,” he noted. Those who have recently moved within Aberdeen but kept the same listed or unlisted phone number will also need to change their address in the database.

            The CodeRED program gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly to the system’s telephone database.  Residents and businesses can register additional phone numbers with the system by visiting the Aberdeen Township website, www.aberdeennj.org , and then follow the link to the “CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection” page. Those without Internet access may register by calling Aberdeen Township at (732) 583-4200, ext.221 to give their information over the phone. Required information includes first and last name, street address (no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code, primary phone number, and any additional phone numbers they wish to include.

            “CodeRED offers those who want to be included with an easy and secure method for entering their data,” said Councilman Joe Raymond. “Participants should also know that the information they enter will strictly be used for emergency notification purposes."