Reverse 911 - general discussion

[giqcass]

The first time I heard about reverse 911 was in the topic I quoted below.  I heard of the system being used more recently to notify neighbors of an Ebola patient in Dallas.  I'll link that article at the bottom of the page.  I find the system interesting and thought I might share.  Clearly 911 can be a useful public service even if you don't need to call them. 

As I'm using Google Voice, I waffled for a week on what to do about 911.  Called the local 911 administrator, and she kindly gave me a number which rings on the desk of the 911 operator.  This was just a local number, so she said I would have to immediately let the 911 dispatcher know I was calling about an emergency, otherwise they would think I was just calling about about "whatever" from the local precinct maybe concerning business.  I went into the advanced configuration of my Obi110 and chickened out.  Those crazy strings had me worried I would mess everything up, and mind you, I build my own computers.  So I decided in the end to go with Anveo for a mere 12.00 a year.  The Anveo test of dialing 933 worked, but I never actually dialed 911, not even in the 20 years I've been living in my house.  Then two days ago, it happened.  We received a reverse 911 call about a maniac in the canyon below our nieghborhood.  Awesome.  Secure the perimeter, lock and load...you know the rest.  Ok, I guess that's all there was to it in the end, but Anveo pulled through.  Reverse 911 worked and I'm sure it will now work the other way if I call them.  Congrats Anveo and Obi.

"THIS IS AN IMPORANT MESSAGE FROM THE CITY OF DALLAS

Please be advised that a heath care worker who lives in your area has tested positive for Ebola. This individual is in the hospital and isolated. Precautions are already in process to clean all known potential areas of contact to ensure public health.
While this may be concerning, there is no ongoing danger to your health. The virus does not spread through casual contact.

The City of Dallas is working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dallas County, Dallas Independent School District, and Community Leaders to protect your health.

For more information please call 311 or Dallas County Health and Human Services at 214-819-2004."

[Shale]

There can be a negative side of that.

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/04/2-am-reverse-911-call-va-beach-draws-complaints
I would not want a 2 AM call to tell me that a road was reopening, even if that road ran by my house.

http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20100909/65-of-west-haven-residents-hung-up-on-reverse-911-call-about-chemical-spill If I am in my house, how likely is it that I would need to wash my hands due to having put my hands into that river since the fire department washed down the accident scene with fire-suppressant foam? I cannot believe they put down a foam that is that irritating. I can belief that I might find the call irritating after listening to the story, and that I might thereafter hang up on such robocalls.

A chlorine/ammonia leak or an  amber alert from 2 blocks away would be an important use. But they are not that selective in making such calls.

[Rick]

Giqcass, great point that few ever consider.  There will be perspectives all over the place.

We live near a college and subscribe to their alerts, which include the ability to receive a call.  We also happen to have a student on campus.  Most recently the system alerted us to a potential shooter on campus.  We immediately texted our son to ensure he was not near the area.

Within minutes, it called back with an all clear.  Some ROTC students were returning non-functional weapons used in drills and someone saw them and acted (properly) to report it. 

Public safety officials should be pushing systems like this and using them IMHO.  First world problems getting a handful of alerts for public safety a year. 

As a former firefighter, I can tell you that the foam is designed to surpress fire by cutting off the air supply as quickly as possible.  Whether it's a mild irritant to skin or not is really irrelevant as it's only used in potential dangerous situations where water can't be used or isn't as good given the problem at hand. 

[giqcass]

@Shale 
We will have to deal with the poor judgment and mistakes of people till our machine overlords take over. lol