In 1968, 911 was announced by AT&T as the national number for emergency assistance. Early that year, the first 911 call in the United States was placed in Haleyville, AL. At the turn of the 20th century, 93% of the population was covered by some form of 911 service with 95% of the covered population being serviced by Enhanced 911 (E911). Today, approximately 96% of the population is covered by some form of 911 according to NENA, the National Emergency Number Association.
While 911 and E911 are known to be used for soliciting emergency assistance, a variation of the 911 application has emerged. Reverse 911 is a system developed by Sigma Communications to support community notification in times of crisis. The system can call and notify users in a specific geographic area of critical information pertaining to their safety during times of crisis. During the wildfires in Southern California in October, Reverse 911 was used by city officials to disseminate mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders to over 500,000 residents. The system identified a pool of message recipients based on databases and GIS (geographic information systems) and broadcast thousands of calls per hour with pertinent evacuation information.
Reverse 911 is currently being used for safety and crime prevention by public and private sector clients including schools and universities, healthcare facilities, transportation companies, chemical manufacturing companies, utility companies, law enforcement agencies, emergency management agencies, state and local governments and public safety agencies.
Whether contacting an emergency services number or being contacted by a notification system such as Reverse 911, the public switched telephone network today serves as a universal resource in times of crisis for connecting those in need.
For more visit evotem.com.
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