County unveils new notification system

Sanders County has a new way of notifying the public in emergency situations. The Sanders County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), in conjunction with the Office of Emergency Management and Rural Addressing, has selected Hyper-Reach for the new Mass Emergency Notification System.

Hyper-Reach is a telephone-based mass notification system used by thousands of public safety agencies across the country to warn citizens about local emergencies, hazards and other threats. Sanders County announces that they have selected Hyper-Reach to help bring this same life-saving capability to the area. Hyper-Reach is a state-of-the-art mass emergency notification system designed specifically for public safety.

“We’re really excited about this new capability,” said Lt. Shawna Chenoweth with SCSO. “We reviewed all the major vendors for emergency notification service, and Hyper-Reach gave us everything we needed.”

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 in an affected area by providing access to FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system.

“Our job is to protect the citizens of Sanders County as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible,” said Bill Naegeli, Office of Emergency Management.

Sanders County 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 Sanders County are encouraged to enroll now either by calling (406) 826-8074, going to the website https://hyper-reach.com/mtsanderssignup.html. The free Hyper-Reach Anywhere app can also be downloaded on smartphones.