The City of Allentown’s new CodeRED high-speed public notification solution and the CodeRED Weather Warning service are ready to be accessed.

The CodeRED system provides city officials the ability to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire city.

Persons can sign-up for notifications by simply logging onto the city’s website, allentownpa.gov, and click the CodeRED logo in the middle of the page. You can also text ALLENTOWNALERT to 99411 to enroll your information from your mobile phone.

At sign up you may select which types of warnings you would like to receive. There is no direct charge to those who sign-up for this service.

“As we have seen from recent severe weather in the south, getting notifications to the public can saves lives,” said Mayor Ray O’Connell.  “I urge our residents and those who work in the city to sign-up to receive the notifications.  I don’t want to be overly dramatic here, but it may someday save the lives of you and your family.”

“With this system we can deliver geo-targeted, time-sensitive information to individuals who have registered to receive alerts,” said Allentown Emergency Management Coordinator Lee Laubach. “The alerts will come from voice, text, mobile app, and email depending on the level of the emergency and the most unique part with our system is that you receive alerts in six different languages.  We are looking to add more languages as they become available on the system.  The Emergency Management Team will schedule in-person educational events about the CodeRed system as restrictions ease with the current Covid19 pandemic.”

City Health Bureau Director Vicky Kistler said, “Code Red notifications can save lives – it is important that we have a way to quickly notify individuals about issues related to safety, public health and weather related emergencies – everyone needs to register for Code Red.”

It is recommended that all businesses register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the past year, and those who use a cellular phone or VoIP phone as their primary number. Those without Internet access may call 610-437-7765 Ext 2633 to supply their information over the phone.

 

CodeRED Weather Warning is an opt-in only weather warning product that taps into the National Weather Service’s Storm Based Warnings. CodeRED Weather Warning automatically alerts affected citizens in the path of severe weather just moments after a warning has been issued.

The city provides the service through an account with OnSolve, the largest global provider of SaaS-based critical communication solutions for enterprise, SMB, and government customers.

Message recipients will easily identify calls coming through the systems. Message recipient’s Caller ID will read OnSolve or 866-419-5000 for CodeRED calls. And for CodeRED Weather Warning calls, either OnSolve or the number 800-566-9780 will appear on Caller ID displays.

The CodeRED system was purchased by the Allentown Health Bureau during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It has been utilized 10 times since the start of the year.

Information provided to TVL by:
Mike Moore
Communications Manager
Mayor’s Office
435 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
Mike.Moore@allentownpa.gov
http://www.AllentownPA.gov

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