Palo Alto’s Reverse 911: Emergency Info Comes to You
June 28th, 2008 by bruce_richmondAs I’ve gone door-to-door to organize the neighborhood to prepare for emergencies, residents have asked about Palo Alto’s new Reverse 911 emergency notification system.
The City of Palo Alto has launched a new Community Alert and Notification System (known as “Palo Alto CANS”), a reverse-911 emergency notification system.
The City of Palo Alto strongly urges all residents to register their contact information into the secure Connect-CTY database to make sure they are ready to receive important information from the City at all times.
Is it annoying to hear a pre-recorded message? Sure. But I’m glad to know that the system is working and I’ll hear about issues in my neighborhood as they come up.
What about security?
Of course you’re concerned about adding your unlisted number or cell phone to yet another database. The good news is that the information will be accessed by the City of Palo Alto only for purposes of community alerts and notification. System provider NTI does not sell, lease, share, or rent personally identifiable information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) to any companies or persons outside of NTI.
Get Connected
Signing up is part of being prepared for an emergency. Palo Alto CANS is enabling the City to target specific blocks or the entire population regarding time-sensitive matters. Notification examples include: disaster information, crime bulletins, power outages, and other related urgent or time-sensitive information. Most recently, we received an air-quality warning relating to smoke from wildfires.
Primary residential and business phones in Palo Alto are automatically included in the system. However, you can opt-in with preferred contact information. Log on to the site to make sure
- Your number is correct and up-to-date; and
- You list your notification rental
- Text message
- Cell number
- Work number
If you have a call blocking service, you can receive the city’s alerts by adding 650-329-2498 to your approved number list.
Alright, how do I log-on?
Visit the City of Palo Alto website, click on the Emergency Information icon on the home page, and go to the link that says “Sign up Now Palo Alto CANS – Services by Connect-CTY” to enter your information into the secure database. Residents can opt-in to provide up to three phone numbers and two e-mail addresses.
No residential Internet access? Access the system on computers at local libraries. Or call me and I’ll help you get set up.
City Staff in collaboration with the Palo Alto Neighborhoods (PAN), local industry, and Palo Alto Neighborhood Disaster Assistance (PANDA) volunteers worked together to determine what the needs are for the community and how the new system might be used.
I am grateful to Sheryl A. Contois, Director, Police Technical Services, for providing the original information for this post.
