Reverse 9-1-1
You may have heard of the phrase 'Reverse 9-1-1' and wondered what that was. This is when a 9-1-1 Center sends out an emergency message to a specific area for law enforcement or fire agencies.
The law enforcement or fire agency identifies the area needing notification, and the Center uses a Qwest database to call all hardwired phones (homes & businesses) within that specified area. This area could be as small as an apartment complex to a few block radius, to several miles.
Examples of emergency notification include SWAT calls, where law enforcement wants all residents to stay inside where they're safe; a hazardous materials spill situation where you may need to evacuate your home, and so forth.
Since the instructions are different depending on the circumstances, it is critical to listen to the entire message and follow the instructions for your safety. Please do not call 9-1-1 to verify the message, nor to seek further information. Notification will be sent out again to those same homes and businesses when the situation is no longer a danger to you.
If your home or business has privacy features (e.g., automatic voicemail, blocks solicitors, blocks unidentified calls, makes unidentified callers state their names, etc.) or any 'anti-solicitation' devices, that phone will not receive the emergency notification from the 9-1-1 Center, or only a partial message (in the case of automatic voicemail).
IMPORTANT!!!! Cell phones cannot be included in the emergency notification, as cell phones are mobile (not assigned to a specific address). So, if you have a cell phone for your home phone, you will not get the emergency notification!