Connecticut Emergency Alert & Notification System

Purpose

Most Trumbull residents know they can call 911 to get assistance in the event of a police, fire or medical emergency. With the Connecticut Emergency Alerting and Notification System (or CT Alert ENS), Trumbull's emergency services personnel can also notify residents and businesses about a potential emergency circumstance.

The CT Alert ENS allows the Town of Trumbull to rapidly notify specific geographical areas or the entire town with minimal impact on emergency services personnel.

By default, the CT Alert ENS database includes all listed and unlisted wired, land-line phone numbers. Residents and businesses can sign up to receive alerts on additional devices including Moble Phones, Voice Over IP landlines, email, Text Messaging and/or Instant Messaging, and Fax.

Notice

You are responsible for any costs associated with your receipt of text, phone, or other messages received through any emergency notification system.

How It Works

In the event of an emergency, Trumbull Emergency Services personnel can identify the affected geographic area of Trumbull and record a message that describes the situation and recommends the protective actions residents and local businesses should take. The CT Alert ENS will automatically send recorded messages to all contact devices (listed and unlisted wired, land-line phones, cell phones, etc.) within the geographic area. If phone lines are busy, the system will attempt to redial those numbers a predetermined number of times to make contact. If an answering machine picks up the call, the emergency message will be left on the machine.

System Features

The CT Alert ENS's features make it an excellent tool for sharing information and alerting residents in the case of an emergency situation.

• It can provide an initial warning as well as specific instructions to protect at-risk citizens. Both factors are necessary for an effective warning.
• The CT Alert ENS can target specific geographic locations, warning only those people who are directly at risk.
• The system uses existing devices (home phones, cell phones, PDAs, etc.) to alert citizens; there is no need for people to buy a specialized warning device.
• The system can deliver text messages to TTY/TDD devices. This feature has the potential to greatly enhance our ability to warn and protect citizens who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Residents and businesses can add contact devices to the database. This can be used to add work telephone numbers, cell phones, email addresses, etc. to the system.

Some of the many uses of the system include:

• Crime prevention
• Emergency evacuations
• Hazardous material leaks
• Homeland Security
• Missing person alerts
• Natural disaster alerts
• Neighborhood emergency incidents
• Search and rescue operations
• Severe weather
• Special community notifications
• Wanted person alerts

The CT Alert ENS technology provides Trumbull's emergency services personnel with a state-of-the-art, public safety communication solution to better serve those who live and work in Trumbull.

The CT Alert ENS system is an excellent enhancement to the Town's system of sharing information with our citizens, but it does not replace Trumbull's other notification systems such as the Town of Trumbull's website, Trumbull Community Television(Charter Spectrum channel 194 and Frontier Vantage channel 6019), the local radio (WICC) and local newspapers (Trumbull Times and Connecticut Post).

Call Screening Features

CT Alert ENS will not work with phone lines having call screening features. For example, if your phone line requires an individual to identify himself or herself through a recorded message before the call is excepted, the CT Alert ENS will not work. The system is designed to play the recorded message upon voice activation, such as a person saying "hello" or an answering machine recording.

The incorporation of the CT Alert ENS represents the Town of Trumbull's continuing commitment to providing our citizens with the most advanced technologies available to ensure that our local public safety is as effective as possible.