Guernsey County Selects Emergency Notification Provider, Hyper-Reach, to Help Protect Lives and Property
1/24/2024
For Immediate Release:
Telephone-based mass notification systems are used by thousands of public safety agencies across the US to warn citizens about local emergencies, hazards, and other threats. Now Guernsey County announces they have selected Hyper-Reach to help bring this same life-saving capability to the area. Hyper-Reach is a state-of-the-art mass emergency notification system designed specifically for public safety. The county expects to have the service fully operational by February 2024. During the transition period from the current provider, RAVE, both systems will be utilized until RAVE’s end date of May 1, 2024.
The new emergency alert system will provide rapid notification of hazardous and urgent situations using a mix of telephone calls, text and email messages, and even TTY/TDD service for the hearing impaired. The system sends thousands of these messages to geographically targeted households in seconds, and can simultaneously deliver them to an even broader audience via social media, as well as sending broadcast messages to most current mobile telephones (made since 2011) in an affected area by providing access to FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system.
“Our job is to protect the citizens of Guernsey County as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible.” said Benjamin Bonnell, Director of the Guernsey County Emergency Management Agency. “We reviewed all of the major vendors for emergency notification service, and Hyper-Reach met the standards and abilities we required at a competitive price. We’re excited about the new capabilities this service has to offer.”
The County plans to use the service primarily for alerts about weather and environmental hazards, criminal activity, and missing persons. Landline phones are automatically enrolled for Community alerts, but Weather alerts to landline phones and Community and Weather alerts to VoIP phones, mobile phones, and email addresses are only included when people enroll. Residents and people who work in Guernsey County are encouraged to enroll now (using a county address) either by calling or texting “Alert” to 740-638-0898 or by going to the website:
http://hyper-reach.com/ohguernseysignup.html
Residents can get emergency alerts via their Alexa-enabled smart speakers just by saying “Alexa, enable Hyper-Reach” and following the Alexa-provided instructions. With more than 50 million US households using Alexa devices, there are hundreds of County residents with Alexa units.
Residents can also download the Hyper-Reach Anywhere app on their smartphones. Hyper-Reach Anywhere is a free smartphone app that allows individual residents to manage and monitor the alerts they receive, both for their home, office, and other addresses they care about, such as those of elderly relatives or friends.
“We’re honored to have been selected by Guernsey County to provide its emergency alerts,” said Sam Asher, President of Hyper-Reach. “It’s gratifying to be part of an effort to save lives and protect property and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
Hyper-Reach is now live and available for use by all Guernsey County Residents. The previous RAVE system will remain online through May 1, 2024 to allow adequate time for transition into the new system. The Guernsey County Emergency Management Agency encourages all County residents and businesses to utilize this system.
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