REVERSE

911

INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION

Town of Fairfield  /   Fairfield ECC  /  Fairfield Fire Department  /  Fairfield Police Department  /  Fairfield Health Department

The Town of Fairfield's Reverse 911 Interactive Community Notification System allows Fairfield public safety officials to send a recorded message via telephone to thousands of homes in the event of an emergency or significant event. The Town of Fairfield’s REVERSE 911 (R911) system is a computer-based program that can send emergency messages using a combination of database and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping technologies.  The system can quickly target a precise geographic area and saturate it with thousands of calls.  Reverse 911 offers a variety of options that allow the Police, Fire, and Health Departments to custom-build a notification system to meet the exact needs of the community.

Reverse 911 can be used for many situations to include:

  • Emergency Evacuations

  • Missing Person Alerts

  • Natural Disaster Alerts

  • Hazardous Material Leaks

  • Crime Alerts and Prevention Information

  • Neighborhood Emergency Situations

  • Homeland Security Alerts

How Reverse 911 Works  

In the event of an emergency, Fairfield Emergency Services can identify the affected areas of Fairfield and record a message that describes the situation and recommends the protective measures that should be taken. The Reverse 911 system will automatically call out to all listed telephone numbers within that geographical area and deliver the recorded message. If the phone lines are busy, the system will attempt to redial those numbers a predetermined number of times to make contact. If an answering machine picks up the call, the emergency message will be left on the machine.

The Reverse 911 system only contacts individuals with published phone numbers. Citizens who have unlisted or unpublished numbers will not be contacted. If you have an unpublished telephone number and want to be contacted in the event of an emergency situation you can register by using the online registration form.

System Features  

The Reverse 911 system’s features make it an excellent tool for sharing information and alerting residents in the case of an emergency situation.

  • It can provide an initial warning as well as specific instructions to protect at-risk citizens. Both factors are necessary for an effective warning.

  • Reverse 911 can target specific geographic locations, warning only those people who are directly at risk.

  • The system uses existing devices (telephones) to alert citizens; there is no need for people to buy a specialized warning device.

  • The system can deliver text messages to TTY/TDD devices. This feature has the potential to greatly enhance our ability to warn and protect citizens who are deaf or hard of hearing.

  • System administrators can add telephone numbers to the database. This can be used to add unlisted telephone numbers and cell phone numbers to the system

System Limitations  

As with any system, the Reverse 911 system has its limitations. These can be minimized with diligent administration of the system, but they will always exist to some degree:

  • The telephone number database contains only the telephone numbers listed in the White Pages for Fairfield. As a result, unless manually added to the database, Reverse 911 will not notify people with unlisted numbers or cell phones. To minimize this, phone numbers and addresses may also be registered for use with the Reverse 911 system by printing, completing and sending the printed form to the Fairfield Emergency Communications Center.

  • Cell phone numbers are not included in the database.  Cell phone numbers can be manually entered into the system either as part of a notification list or linked to a specific address.  If linked to a specific address, the location of the cell phone number becomes essentially fixed to that location. This could lead to the situation of a cell phone being notified when the user is mobile and well out of the affected area. Or conversely, the situation where the user is mobile, is in the affected area, but is not notified because the fixed location of the number is in an unaffected area.  Please consider this when registering cell phone information for addition to the database.

  • Reverse 911 is very effective for making notifications within a well-defined geographic area. Due to the outgoing call capacity of the system, the system becomes less effective as the geographic area gets larger. For this reason, the Town of Fairfield takes a systematic approach to warning, recognizing that no single application can provide warning to all citizens in all situations. The Reverse 911 system is an excellent enhancement to the Town’s system of sharing information with our citizens, but it does not replace Fairfield’s other notification systems.

Call Screening Features

Reverse 911 will not work with phone lines having call screening features. For example, if your phone line requires an individual to identify himself or herself through a recorded message before the call is excepted, the Reverse 911 system will not work. The system is designed to play the recorded message upon voice activation, such as a person saying "hello" or an answering machine recording.

Other Information  

Private Call Blocking

Moreover, the Reverse 911 system will work if your phone line has private call blocking. The system automatically identifies itself, allowing the phone call through.

Unpublished Phone Numbers

The Reverse 911 system’s initial database contains only published phone numbers. Citizens that have unlisted or unpublished phone numbers will not be called. However, if citizens have an unpublished phone number and want to be contacted in the event of an emergency incident, they should register their phone number with the Fairfield Police Department. To do so, please complete the on-line form below or print, complete and send the Reverse 911 Information Update Form to:

Fairfield Emergency Communications Center

Reverse 911 Registration

100 Reef Road, Fairfield, CT 06824

 

PRINTABLE VERSION (MS WORD)

  

 

New Residents

Citizens that have recently moved into Fairfield or changed their residential phone should register their phone number(s) as stated above.

The incorporation of the REVERSE 911 system represents the Town of Fairfield’s continuing commitment to providing our citizens with the most advanced technologies available to ensure that our local public safety is as effective as possible.
Sign-up Form  

REQUEST FOR ADDITION TO OR REMOVAL FROM THE FAIRFIELD REVERSE 911 DATABASE

Check One:        Add to Database      Remove from database

First Name*:  

Last Name*:  

Numeric and Street Name*:  

City*:   State*: Zip Code*:  

Home Phone Number*:    Check this box Number is unlisted:

Fax Number:

Cell Phone 1: Cell Phone 2:

Cell Phone 3: Cell Phone 4:

Email Address*:

Email Address 2:

Email Address 3:

Email Address 4:

Check this box if you are a senior citizen:

Check this box if a business:      

Check this box if a TDD/TTY number:

Check this box if you have submitted a previous application 

Comments:

  * denotes a required field

 

Privacy Notice and Disclaimer  
The Town of Fairfield will not share or distribute personal information gathers by this form and will use it solely for the purpose of providing Community Emergency notifications. Your information in the system is submitted over a secure, encrypted connotation for your protection.