Aberdeen upgrades emergency notice system BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer ABERDEEN - The high-speed CodeRED telephone notification system has come to Aberdeen and will assist township personnel in distributing importantmessages to residents. "This new platform offers many advantages over the existing system - first and foremost, extremely fast notification," said Aberdeen Chief of Police John Powers. "With CodeRED, the entire township can be called in under 10 minutes versus several hours under the previous system." The CodeRED system gives township officials the ability to deliver pre-recorded emergency telephone notification messages to targeted areas or the entire township at a rate of up to 1,000 calls perminute. CodeRED replaces the previous emergency notification system implemented by the township in 2004. The new system enables residents to be reached at work and on their cell phones in addition to being reached at home. According to Stuart Brown, Aberdeen Township manager, so far the system has been used for a test call. In addition to emergency notifications, the systemwill alsowarn residents of parking requirements before and during inclement weather, as well as alert residents ofmissing children or adults. "The big advantage is that you can pinpoint a street or a circumference of an address and it will automatically call those residents," Brown said. But there is a catch. "If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called, and if your address has changed, that information should be updated," cautioned Councilman Vincent Vinci, a retired member of the Aberdeen Police Department. Vinci went on to say that such systems are only as good as the telephone database supporting them. "CodeREDoffers thosewhowant to be included with an easy and secure method for entering their data," said Councilman Joe Raymond. "Participants should also know that the information they enter will strictly be used for emergency notification purposes." As a notification systembased on location, CodeRED requires street addresses to select which phone numberswill receive emergency notification calls in a given situation. While the system also works with cell phones, a street address is still needed. "Those who have recently moved within Aberdeen but kept the same listed or unlisted phone number will also need to change their address in the database," Vinci explained. With the CodeRED system, town officials have the ability tomap out calls fromany Internet connection that is initiated outside of police headquarters, such as emergency locations or officials' homes. No local phone lines are used tomake the calls, nor is any hardware or equipment tied up locally.Calls are sent froma secure remote location using sophisticated equipment that enables 60,000 calls per hour. Aberdeen Township is currently in a twoyear contract with Emergency Communications Network Inc., of Ormond Beach, Fla., for the use of the CodeRED high-speed telephone emergency notification services. Residents can register their phone numbers at www.aberdeennj.org by clicking on the CodeRED icon on the left of the page and filling out the necessary information.