The pinnacle of pinging
BRIAN WALKER/Press Bob Kesson, communication services manager at the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, is preparing to launch a new emergency notification system that starts Aug. 1. Here, he works at the county’s dispatch center in Coeur d’Alene.
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County is about to enter a new era of emergency notification.
Signups are underway for a new system called Alert! Kootenai, allowing greater capabilities than the existing program. It goes live on Aug. 1.
"It's going from an Edsel to a Lambourghini," said Bob Kesson, communications services manager for the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office.
The new system allows for up to nine ways to be contacted and you can enter up to five addresses. The existing system, implemented in 2010, offers three ways to be contacted (and you can only choose up to two of those) and only one address can be entered.
"The new system allows for a lot more capabilities," said Kesson, adding it also gives residents the opportunity to be notified of an emergency near where their friends or family live, their workplace or second home.
Residents wanting to receive emergency notifications in their areas such as storms, flooding, fire, unexpected road closures and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods should sign up at www.kcgov.us/alertkootenai.
The data residents have in the existing system will automatically be transferred to the new system. However, it will only be there from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1 and purged after that, so residents will need to sign up for the new system if they want notifications.
Notifications of Amber Alerts and school lockdowns are done through separate systems.
The county's new alert system is paid for with the $1.25 per month 911 user fee on cellphone bills. There is no additional charge to sign up for the optional notification.
The new system will also allow for more people to be notified, Kesson said.
For example, the existing system notified only Kootenai County residents of the Cape Horn fire near Bayview two years ago. But with the new system and a feature called Wireless Emergency Alert, it will notify anyone who is registered with a cell tower, thereby notifying residents in Bonner County as well.
Kesson said the new system will also allow for photos and other attachments to be sent.
"It will send all of the texts and emails first because that is the fastest way to notify someone," he said.
If people want to be notified in multiple ways, and they don't want to receive the same notification multiple times, they can simply reply that they received the message to stop the same messages from being delivered.
"You reply with 'yes' with texts, click on a link with emails and enter 1 with phone messages," Kesson said.
Residents will also specify if they also want to receive non-emergency alerts and information about special events.
From Wednesday through Friday, Kesson notified the 3,697 residents who are registered in the current notification system about the new system and changes.
Want to be notified of emergencies?
Residents can sign up for Kootenai County’s new optional emergency notification system at: www.kcgov.us/alertkootenai
Those who need assistance can call 446-1850 or email enssupport@kcgov.us. Staff will also be at the Hayden Night Out on Aug. 1 from 4 to 8 p.m. at McIntire Family Park, and at the Kootenai County Fire Prevention Co-op booth at the North Idaho Fair Aug. 23-27 with laptops to assist residents with signing up for the system.