Star Tribune, original publication date: May 29, 2011

Washington County, Minn. — Washington County authorities will soon be able to use telephone messages to alert the public to emergencies and relay important information. The Washington County Board approved spending $52,500 and signed a contract with Emergency Communication Network Inc. to provide the CodeRed service.

The service, which will be active 24 hours, will allow officials to place recorded messages at high speed to recipients who opt to receive them on their home telephones. Calls can be made to residents countywide but can be customized to reach only those who live in specific communities, within specified geographic boundaries or in areas near where a risk has been determined.

A campaign to inform residents of the new system and how to sign up to receive calls will be launched before the system goes live later this summer, county officials said.

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