Chatham rolls out new emergency notification system
CHATHAM, Ill. (WRSP) — The village of Chatham is working to make sure they are prepared to take on any emergency situation that may hit.
In order to make sure they are as prepared as possible, they have replaced their old emergency notification system with a new one.
"Anytime you can enhance communication and get more of your messaging out and let your citizens know what is going on, it is helpful," Village of Chatham President Dave Kimsey said.
The new enhanced version of its mass notification system can let residents stay aware of anything that might be happening in the community.
"It's not only to let citizens in town know what’s going on as far as road closures and any road work we might be doing, but provides an enhancement to our emergency notification system," Kimsey said.
The new system is called Civic Ready Solution.
Dispatchers will have to send some of the notifications, but the Chatham Police Chief, Vernon Foli, said this will make both jobs easier.
"Whenever we have a power outage, this will greatly reduce the amount of calls coming into our dispatch and this allows us to get the information out there," Foli said.
Officials are asking everyone to sign up and if you were already signed up for the previous alert system, they ask that you reenter your information for more personalized alerts.
"With the addresses in our database, we are able to localize our notification in order to provide notifications to those that are impacted,” Kimsey said.
The system also has new methods of reaching those in the community.
"Not only text messaging to cell phones, emails but we can also send voicemails to landlines," Kimsey said.
Officials will begin using this new system on Friday, September 21st.
You can find more information and how to sign up on the Village of Chatham website.
