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• • Lewis & Clark County, Helena unveil emergency text message system
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• Great Falls emergency notification system goes mobile

Helena residents can now receive emergency alert information on their cells phones.

Helena Police and Fire departments, along with the Lewis & Clark County Sheriff's Department, are asking local residents to register their cell phone numbers to an address.

Historically, in emergency situations, law enforcement called land-line telephones affected by a crisis, but with more people disposing of land-lines in favor of cell phones, the agencies want to make sure they can contact residents.

Lieutenant Curt Stinson of the Helena Police Department said, "I hope that, number one, it provides a service to those folks that haven's been able to take advantage of it in the past, and number two, it's also a great benefit for us when we do have to utilize the system, whether it's a wildfire evacuation, or it's a missing person or something like that, that we are able to get the message out that we need to get out."

There is no cost to register; notifications will come directly to your cell phone in the form of a text or automated message.

NOTE: A similar service is offered to residents in Great Falls; click here to learn more.

Click here to go to the registration website; below are some of the frequently-asked questions about the service:

Q: Who should opt in?

A: All wireless and VoIP phone subscribers within Lewis & Clark County who wish to receive Target Notifications. Subscribers’ wireless and VoIP information will be kept in a separate database, so that if subscribers are already in the 9-1-1 landline database their information will not be changed.

Q: Will my information be sold or distributed?

A: No. All of the information you enter will feed directly into the Target Notification secure database. This information can only be accessed by system administrators and the data will never be sold or distributed to third parties.

Q: When will I receive phone calls?

A: You will receive phone calls when the Target Notification system is activated and your address is within the geographic area chosen to receive the notification message. The Target Notification system will only be activated for emergency purposes during incidents that pose a risk to public safety or when emergency services may ask for the public’s assistance during a crisis incident.

Q: What do I do if I move?

A: If you move after you have entered your information into the website you will need to go back into the website and re-enter your information with your new address.

Q: Can I add my landline telephone number?

A: Yes. You can enter your landline phone number into the Opt-In website. If your landline phone number is already in the database, the data you enter into the site will NOT overwrite the existing information for your landline telephone number. If your landline phone number is not already in the database, then the new information will be entered into the database.

Q: Can I enter my telephone number more than once at different addresses?

A: No. The last address that you enter into the website will be the only location that your telephone number is associated with. Your telephone number can only be in the database once, at one location.

Q: Do I have to enter an actual address?

A: Yes. If you enter an address that does not exist you will not be in the database and will not be contacted when the Target Notification system is activated.

Q: Will I be solicited in any way at the phone number that I enter?

A: No. You will only receive phone calls when the Target Notification system is activated and your address is within the geographic notification area chosen. The Target Notification system will only be activated for emergency purposes.

Q: If I am in a location that is different than the address that I enter into the website for my wireless phone, will I still be contacted if an emergency affects the address entered?

A: Yes. No matter where you are physically located, you will only receive calls for emergencies that affect the address entered into the website. So if you are on vacation in a different state you will still receive a phone call if the address you entered is affected by an emergency.