Town Encourages Residents to Sign Up for Alert System

Town officials are encouraging Arlington residents to register for Arlington Alerts, a new emergency communication system that will replace the current reverse 911 program.

“All individuals and businesses should take the time to visit our website and add contact information to include cellular phones and other non-traditional phones as well as email and text addresses,”  Chief Fred Ryan said in a statement. “If your contact information is not in the database, you will not receive a call when an urgent message is sent."

On Tuesday, the town conducted a townwide test phone call to introduce the service to residents and inform them on how to register to receive alerts by text, email and on their cell phones.

Now, officials are asking residents to reach out to neighbors who may not have received this phone call and who may need some assistance registering to Arlington Alerts.

"Your assistance helps keep Arlington a safe place for all," officials said in a statement.

Arlington Alerts will replace the current Reverse 911 system and will greatly improve the town’s ability to communicate with residents during time-sensitive events.

The updated service offers faster phone notification and adds text and email capabilities. The new system only takes 10 to 20 minutes, compared the the three to four hours it could take with the previous one. Another reason for this test call is to help ensure the data in the Arlington Alert system is accurate.

Town officials selected CodeRED, a product of the Emergency Communications Network to provide the backend of the Arlington Alert system. CodeRED is used by 44 percent of municipalities in Massachusetts, including Cambridge, Bedford and Lexington.

Residents can learn more about Arlington Alerts and register their contact information online at Arlingtonma.gov/subscriber.