New Hampshire has just signed into law a statewide emergency notification system which will notify residents of local and statewide emergencies via landline phones, cellular phones and internet service phones. The system is expected to begin operating in Fall 2010!

By Associated Press July 08, 2010 2:00 AM

CONCORD — Gov. John Lynch signed a law Wednesday that will allow the state to send New Hampshire residents automated phone messages about pending emergencies.

The messages will warn about emergencies such as ice storms, tornado warnings or floods through automated phone calls.

New Hampshire already has a database of landlines. Cell phone and Internet service phone users can opt into the system. Communities that already have their own emergency notification systems are encouraged to use the state system when it is up and running.

The state system will be able to place calls to people statewide or focus on a specific part of the state.

“Nationally, there was (Hurricane) Katrina and 9/11, but locally we had the ice storm, we’ve had fires and we’ve had floods. We’ve had people missing,” said Rep. Melanie Levesque, D-Brookline, a telecom consultant who sponsored the bill. “In all of these cases, if we had had a system … we could save lives and property.”

With the new law, New Hampshire will be joining at least one other state, Connecticut, in setting up a statewide emergency notification system. Connecticut residents started registering on a Web site last week to receive emergency alerts.

The bill allows New Hampshire to spend up to $600,000 on software and other equipment to set up the service and work off of a 911 database of phone lines. The state still must seek bids, and Emergency Services Director Bruce Cheney believes the system will be operating sometime this fall.

The bill had faced some concerns from phone service providers, such as whether a large volume of calls would be able to get out at once. A clause was included in the bill saying that no person or corporation who transmits messages to the public in good faith would be found liable for damages if sued.

Cheney said he had wanted the system to require cell users to “opt out” of participating and messages to be sent to cell users based on their proximity to cell towers, but that was rejected in favor of an “opt in” system requiring cell users to sign up to participate.

As a result, some New Hampshire cell users may be notified even when they are on vacation out of state, he said. On the other hand, visitors may not get the message. Landlines will get the message based on location, Cheney said.

“In most cases, this is going to be used on a local level,” Levesque said. “It may be used on a county level.”

Every community would have access to the service, although more than a dozen have invested in their own systems. For example, Portsmouth uses the CodeRED community alert system, which makes 6,000 phone calls a minute, meaning everyone in the city can be notified of an emergency within two minutes, according to Police Chief Lou Ferland.

Portsmouth residents can opt in to the city’s database and can sign up by logging onto the city Web site at www.cityofportsmouth.com/police/cas.htm. Those without Internet access may call communications manager Gil Emery at 610-7411, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, to provide the information by telephone.

Required information includes first and last name, street address, city, state, zip code and primary phone number. Additional phone numbers can be entered as well.

sidents can opt in to the city’s database and can sign up by logging onto the city Web site at www.cityofportsmouth.com/police/cas.htm. Those without Internet access may call communications manager Gil Emery at 610-7411, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, to provide the information by telephone.

Required information includes first and last name, street address, city, state, zip code and primary phone number. Additional phone numbers can be entered as well.

The original story can be found here:  http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100708/NEWS/7080422/-1/NEWSMAP