NEWS RELEASE – For Immediate Release Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Corvallis, OR 97330 Friday, January 12, 2012, BENTON COUNTY, OR – Benton Co Benton and Lincoln County Sheriff Offices plan test of reverse 911 style emergency alert system Benton and Lincoln County Sheriff Offices have partnered to test of the Linn-Benton Alert, our local reverse 911 system. The test – which is scheduled to occur at 10:30 a.m. in Benton and Lincoln counties on Jan. 17 – will apply to all program subscribers, which include all listed landline telephone numbers and those who have signed up for the service to receive messages via text message, email, cell phone or other methods. In the case of the Linn-Benton Alert test, it is important that recipients of the emergency test message not call 911, unless they are experiencing an actual emergency, when they receive the following message: “This is a test of the local emergency alert system. This is only a test. In the event of a real emergency, this message would have included information about an actual event and, potentially, instructions for the community. This concludes the test of the local emergency alert system.” Linn-Benton Alert is a comprehensive communications tool for emergencies that allows county authorities to contact all subscribers in targeted areas where safety threats or warnings are applicable. Emergency alerts are based on physical address and geography. The address-based system alerts to Zip codes in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, zeroing in on specific neighborhoods where the information can keep people safe. However, participants can register multiple addresses to be alerted about emergencies impacting rental properties, loved ones and more, with the option to select and prioritize multiple phone, email, text and TTY devices. Benton and Linn counties have been partnered in this effort for about two years, and Lincoln County joined the partnership after a coastal surge event exposed flaws in the less expensive system formerly utilized there. Other notable users of services offered by the Linn-Benton Alert service provider, Everbridge, include Virginia Tech and the United States military. With the Everbridge Linn-Benton Alert system, even if the state or federal emergency alert system (EAS) does not function properly, subscribers will be notified through the local emergency communication systems. All landlines already are included in the system, but participants must register cell phones to be notified by text message, email, cell phone or other method. The service is free and available to the public, and anyone can sign up. For more information or to sign up, those interested can go online to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office website at http://www.co.benton.or.us/sheriff/index.php or access the signup form directly at http://bit.ly/b9QtLd.
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