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As part of National Preparedness, The Mequon Police Department is encouraging residents to register their mobile telephones to receive emergency alerts from the department.
The Mequon 911 Dispatch Center will use the “Hyper-Reach” emergency telephone notification system. “Hyper-Reach” allows the 911 Center to quickly send a recorded message to telephones in specific areas and alert residents to any emergency situations that may require immediate action.
The system is designed to deliver more than 5,000 calls per hour and has been successfully used on a number of occasions for incidents such as hazardous chemical releases, missing persons and severe weather alerts. The “Hyper-Reach” message delivers critical information to residents and provides guidance on what precautions need to be taken by residents during and after the incident.
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.
The city plans to use the service primarily for alerts about weather and environmental hazards, criminal activity and missing persons. Landline phones are automatically enrolled, but mobile phones and email addresses are only included when people enroll. Residents and people who work in Mequon are encouraged to enroll now either by calling 262-292-5060, going to the website https://hyper-reach.com/wicityofmequonsignup.html, or by downloading the Hyper-Reach Anywhere app on their smartphone. Hyper-Reach Anywhere is a free smartphone app that allows individual citizens to manage and monitor the alerts they receive, both for their home and office addresses and for other addresses they care about such as those of elderly relatives or friends.