Telephone-based mass notification systems are used by thousands of public safety agencies across the US to warn citizens about local emergencies, hazards and other threats. Coffee County has selected Hyper-Research to help bring this same life-saving capability to the area. Hyper-Reach is a state of the art mass emergency notification system designed specifically for public safety. The county expects to have the service fully operational by the end of February. The new emergency alert system will provide rapid notification of hazardous and urgent situations using a mix of telephone calls, text and email messages, and even TTY/TDD service for the hearing impaired. The system sends thousands of these messages to geographically targeted households in seconds, and can simultaneously deliver them to an even broader audience via social media, as well as sending broadcast messages to most current mobile telephones (made since 2011) in an affected area by providing access to FEMA's Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. "Our job is to protect the citizens of Coffee County as effectively and cost-effectively as possible." said Diane Argraves, Director of 911 for Coffee County. "We reviewed all the major vendors for emergency notification service, and Hyper-Reach gave us everything we needed at an unbelievable price. We're really excited about this new capability." The County plans to use the service primarily for alerts about weather and environmental hazards, criminal activity and missing persons. Landline phones are automatically enrolled for alerts (except weather), but for landline weather alerts or for alerts to mobile phones and email addresses, citizens must sign up. Residents and people who work in Coffee County are encouraged to enroll now either by calling or texting 931.800.3020 or by going to the website.
