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Main Page Reverse 911
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Posted by: 4ransom

Just curious if anybody has had any experience with reverse 911. My dept is implementing it this week and We are giving it a test run tomorrow. I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with it, do you get flooded with calls right after the message goes out from people who have more questions or concerns? I just think of every time something from the town makes the news and people are calling the station with stupid questions, or other events around town that happen and you get the group of morons who call the station asking about it because they don't know who else to call. I don't mean just the 911, i am also talking about the business line. I hope it is not a nightmare.

Posted by: Gil

We have used it on a few occasions in the past without many issues, you may want to add a request not to call the station with questions about the system and maybe provide an FAQ on your website and direct the questions through an email address instead.

Here is what I put up for our department....

http://www.attleboropolice.org/reverse911.htm

Another consideration is unlisted numbers, cell phones and VOIP users

http://www.attleboropolice.org/reverse911submit.htm

Posted by: bluesamurai22

We have had it for years. There are occassions when mostly elderly people will call in with questions but if you record a good message and ask people not to call unless they have important info then it's very effective. I wrote a pretty good policy and a few other helpful things. If you want those just PM me your e-mail address and I will send you the Word Docs.

Our first use was to inform residents of a water ban and that resulted in a huge usage drop of 1 million gallons per day. I have used it to search for missing people, to take surveys and to get leeds in crimes - I got a good one on an attempted abduction. The goofiest one I did was for a report of a mountain lion sighting (the RP actually said he saw it in my yard). The media loves playing the messages on the news - they did this for the attempted abduction and for the supposed mountain lion.

Before you commit make sure the system is right for your needs. There are other systems that will call a lot more people in a much shorter time and that are much easier to use. The downside of those systems is that they can also cost a lot more money and they aren't as capable in regards to calling specific areas.

The biggest problem we have had with R911 is that people can't figure out how to use it. This is even more true when it's an emergency. The competing systems only require a phone call and would be easier for a C.O. in the field to activate.

This is what I put up on our site:

http://bpd.org/reverse911.html

Posted by: MM1799

Lol, my parents live in Burlington. I remember getting home, eating breakfast and playing my messages. "(Son), we just got a call from the police that there is a mountain lion somewhere in Burlington. They thought it was a fischer cat.. but someone cofirmed it was a mountain lion." I think I spit milk all over my t.v and table. A great times with the folks.

Posted by: 4ransom

Well we tested it the other day and it wasn't that bad. Only got 7 calls from people and you guys were right, they were all elderly. The Chief of Police spoke over the message, so a few people thought they were being targeted directly, but once we explained it again they were fine. Hope it goes as smoothly next time.

Posted by: bluesamurai22

That was me reading the message. One funny thing about this "sighting" was that it was supposedly in my front yard and then crossing the street in front of my house. I was very tempted to let my dog out when 7 News was live near my front yard.

I'm convinced that the big, bad mountain lion was actually a little annoying neighborhood fox.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MM1799

Lol, my parents live in Burlington. I remember getting home, eating breakfast and playing my messages. "(Son), we just got a call from the police that there is a mountain lion somewhere in Burlington. They thought it was a fischer cat.. but someone cofirmed it was a mountain lion." I think I spit milk all over my t.v and table. A great times with the folks.

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