Fannin County has contracted with Emergency Communications Network, Inc., of Ormond Beach, Florida, for its "CodeRED" high-speed telephone emergency notification services. The CodeRED system gives county officials the ability to deliver pre-recorded emergency telephone notification/information messages to targeted areas or the entire county at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour.

Commission Chairman Howie Bruce and Lonnie Oliver, Fannin County's Emergency Management Director, 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". The CodeRED system not only offers faster calling rates and improved message delivery, it gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly to the system's telephone database. Oliver emphasized that this is an extremely important feature.

To ensure no one is omitted, Bruce urges all individuals and businesses to log onto the Fannin County Government website, www.fannincountyga.org, and follow the link to the "CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection" page. Required information includes first and last name, street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code, and primary phone number, additional phone numbers (optional).

No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included, Oliver said. All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the last year, and who use a cellular phone as their primary home phone.

Bruce explained that the "CodeRED system is a geographical based notification system, which means street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls in any given situation. The system works fine for cell phones too, but we have to have a street address". People who have recently moved but kept the same listed or unlisted phone number also need to change their address in the database. Part-time residents should also sign up using their Fannin County property's address and their primary contact number, whether that be a land line outside of Fannin County or a cell phone.

Oliver stated, "CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for doing so. The information will only be used for emergency notification purposes; it will not be given or sold to telemarketers".

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