Metuchen instituting Reverse 911 System to notify residents in emergencies

Metuchen’s ability to inform residents and businesses about emergency situations including major power outages, imminent severe weather, evacuation orders, boil water advisories, and Amber Alerts will be greatly improved and enhanced when the borough’s Reverse 911 system comes online in March.

Reverse 911 is a communications system used by public safety organizations in the United States to communicate with residents in a fast, effective manner. The internet based system uses a database of telephone numbers and can call thousands of numbers in minutes to deliver recorded emergency notifications. It can also generate emails and text messages.

Metuchen has contracted with Global Connect as the vendor to provide the notification service. Verizon will provide the landline or wired telephone numbers and residents can register their wireless, VOIP, and other numbers with the system at: http://www.metuchennj.org/global-connect.html

The project has been led by James Graziano, coordinator of the borough’s Office of Emergency Management who worked closely with Mayor Tom Vahalla, the Borough Council and others to create this reliable, comprehensive system to communicate with residents and businesses, keeping them informed in the event of an emergency effecting Metuchen. 

The system is being finalized, undergoing testing and training in the coming weeks. The borough’s Reverse 911 system should be in place sometime in early March, 2011. Residents may receive a test message as part of the testing procedure.