BY MICHELLE ROSENBERG
Staff Writer
ABERDEEN — The township unveiled a new automated call system that will enable the municipality to rapidly communicate with residents.
The new communication system allows the township to contact residents in case of an emergency or to inform them of community news and events, using prerecorded automated messages.
“The emergency call notification system provides the means for designated township officials to automatically reach Aberdeen residents and businesses via telephone with prerecorded messages that convey information on emergencies and other time-sensitive issues or events,” Township Manger Mark Coren said.
“It’s the kind of thing that increases our ability to maintain contact with the public,” he said.
The system can be used to alert residents to dangerous situations, such as road closures, water main breaks and snow. The system can also be used to remind residents to show support for the township by attending community events such as Aberdeen Day.
“There’s a myriad of information it can put out, from police investigations to community events,” Coren said.
The idea for the system first came about roughly 16 months ago from the Aberdeen Police Department, Coren said. The department worked with public works to design the system for the purpose of “being proactive and planning for the community,” Coren said.
The system cost the township $24,000, which came out of the capital budget.
The system has technology that enables it to alert the entire township, or call only residents who are relevant to the message being sent out.
“Thanks to the system’s electronic-mapping software, these automated messages can be sent throughout the entire municipality or to affected sections or streets,” Coren said.
The township used the system for the first time last week to alert residents that there would be a lottery for the limited number of flu vaccinations available.
The system was also designed to call back numbers where there was no answer and numbers that were busy.
The system works through the township’s desktop computers. The township has designated users that access the system to send out the messages.
Residents do not have to worry about their personal information being exposed, Aberdeen Police Chief Joseph Kelly said.
“When designing the program, we considered privacy issues and want to assure the public that their personal data will not be inappropriately distributed to outsiders,” Kelly said.
Residents or businesses that wish to have their phone number blocked from the system should inform the police department in writing, Kelly said.
Kelly also said that the phone system was favored over an Internet-based alert system.
“This affords us the widest possible range of coverage, as some residents lack Internet connections, or may not always be online,” he said. “Another advantage of this system is that even in the event of a blackout, people generally still have telephone service.”
The township is excited to have a system that enables it to reach mass numbers of people in such a timely fashion, Coren said.
“It’s [the call system] becoming more and more prevalent,” Coren said. “Over time, I can see all 566 municipalities in New Jersey having this system in place, there’s no doubt,” he said.