BERLIN – A new mass notification system is expected to keep Berlin’s citizens informed.
Accompanying residents’ utility bills this month was a notice about CodeRed, the emergency notification system the town is now using to share important information. The mass notification system delivers emergency messages via telephone, text or email.
“I’m delighted the town has this program,” Mayor Gee Williams said. “Eventually every town will have one. We just happen to be farther ahead than most small communities.”
Mary Bohlen, Berlin’s deputy town administrator, suggested the town look into public notification systems after seeing how area school systems were using them.
“I realized it’d be a good tool for the town to have,” she said.
She added that was particularly true since Berlin had its own electric utility. Bohlen said that when there was a power outage, residents bombard town hall with calls.
“The phone system gets so tied up we’re not able to help people,” she said. “This will give us a way of letting people know we’re aware of it.”
Bohlen said town staff solicited information from a number of companies and eventually received six bids. CodeRed was selected at a cost of slightly more than $3,300. She said there would be an annual fee of about the same amount in the future.
With CodeRed, once they register, citizens can select how they want to receive emergency alerts — via phone call, text or email. Even out-of-town property owners can sign up for alerts. Bohlen said residents could register via the town’s website, www.berlinmd.gov, or with the mail-in form that was included with the recent utility bills. They can also call Berlin’s town hall for help at 410-641-2770.
Bohlen said CodeRed was used for the first time earlier this month to let people know about a planned power outage. She said interest had picked up in the program after that and many residents had called for information about it.
“I think people appreciate that they’re getting some sort of notification,” she said.
Williams said the progression from posting flyers throughout the town to mass notification systems like CodeRed was simply the evolution of communication.
“In today’s world people expect information as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he said. “I’ve found it’s better to tell people what’s going on as quickly as possible because it’s never as bad as what they’re coming up with in their heads.”