West Hartford Advises Residents to Opt-in to Community Advisory Notification System

From the town

Before the next natural emergency that the month of October has been known to bring, consider opting-in to West Hartford’s Community Advisory Notification System so the Town of West Hartford can get you critical information when you need it most by cell phone, text messaging or at home; you decide.

Simply visit the opt-in web site and enter your information. Go to www.westhartford.org and look under Quick Links on the home page for “Community Advisory Notification System.”  Create an account and then prioritize the manner in which you want to be notified.  For example, choose your home phone as the first device to call, followed by a text message, followed by your office phone, and so forth. Register all your devices.

Examples of the type of messages that may be sent include severe weather alerts, unexpected road closures, missing persons, burglaries, and evacuation of buildings or neighborhoods.

Your information is protected and will not be used for any other purpose. You can receive notifications regarding multiple places such as your home, your child’s school, your parents’ home, and your workplace, as long as those locations are within the boundaries of the Town of West Hartford.

“Storm Alfred was a good example of how a nightly message from the Mayor brought reassurances that government was at work solving the problem at a time in which when there seemed to be little information available,” said Fire Chief Gary Allyn who also serves as the Town’s Emergency Management Coordinator.

How Advisory Alerts Work

When a message is issued about a potential safety hazard or concern, messages will be sent to all standard voice and text communication devices that are registered, including landline phones, cell phones, e-mail, and more. If the message is not confirmed as received, the system will dial or email the next entry on the list. The system will continue trying until it receives a confirmation.

At any time you may opt out of the Community Advisory Notification System and you will no longer receive notifications from the Town. You may also update your contact information and preferences at any time.

The West Hartford Community Advisory Notification System takes the www.ctalert.gov system one step further by allowing the Town of West Hartford the flexibility of reaching homes and businesses within its boundaries with a variety of important messages in a number of different ways including home and business phones, cell phones, email, text messaging and hearing impaired receiving devices.