New Jacksonville emergency alert system calls targeted areas at 60,000 an hour | 07.26.2007 | 07:38:05 | Views: 5919 | ID: July 26 '07: In Duval County, Florida, a new emergency alert system has been installed that will target specific areas of Jacksonville and the surrounding community in the event of an emergency with up to 60,000 telephone calls an hour, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported. The technology used, CodeRed is preloaded with the targeted community's phone numbers while businesses can be added. The Florida Times-Union reported that the "system is provided through a contract between the city and Emergency Communications Network Inc. at an annual cost of $100,000 and is funded entirely by federal homeland security grants. Emergency Preparedness Division Chief Lorin Mock told the Times-Union, the old emergency alert system would have taken six to eight hours to alert the community. The new system will be able to reach 100,000 in under an hour. "this is certainly another tool to be effective in reaching more people quickly," Mock told the Times-Union. "Anything that gets the message out is valuable." Currently, more than 4,000 cities in the U.S. use the CodeRed system, the company said.
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