All city residents are encouraged to register now for text, voice call or email emergency alerts with CivicReady, the city’s new emergency notification provider.
The City of Hot Springs will officially transition from CodeRED to CivicReady on Thursday, October 15. Whether or not city residents are already registered with CodeRED, they will need to register again for the new system.
Registering for CivicReady takes only a couple of minutes by going to cityhs.net/ready and entering contact information along with specific notification preferences. Residents should confirm their subscription immediately after signup by checking their email. During signup or at any time afterwards, residents can provide multiple phone numbers and addresses to be reached in an emergency, including their residence, workplace, childcare facility, and the like.
CivicReady, a product of CivicPlus, the Manhattan-based company that provides the city’s website, is a cloud-based interactive emergency preparedness and notification solution. Through CivicReady, the City of Hot Springs can engage citizens in emergency preparedness and provide them with swift, accurate, direct mass communication in emergency situations. Citizens can be reached through the website, email, SMS, voice calls and social media platforms. FEMA-sourced emergency preparedness content, such as how to build an emergency kit, is also easily accessible from the CivicReady webpage.
“With CivicReady, the city can communicate crucial information through its website, Facebook and Twitter as well as voice call, text and email, all from one central location,” said Max Sestili, stormwater manager and CivicReady coordinator. “Messages can be targeted to a specific area or the entire community.”
Once an emergency notification is issued, official alerts can be published and sent out as the event progresses. For the first time, all emergency communications during an event are documented and time stamped, facilitating post-incident review and requests for reimbursement. CivicReady’s Operations Blog offers space for official information and images and allows for citizen discussion related to the event. A PeopleFinder feature provides a central location where people can locate those who may have been lost or found in a mass emergency.
Calls from CivicReady will begin with a distinctive set of tones and will show the number 501-651-7733 on caller ID. For information, contact Sestili at 321-6773.