Adam Foxman, Ventura County Star (California)

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office plans to launch a new emergency notification system on Tuesday with expanded contact options and features that allow people to receive additional alerts if they choose, officials said.

VC Alert will be rolled out to replace the Reverse 911 system in place since 2008, sheriff’s officials said. As part of the launch, 6,195 Ventura County residents who registered for Reverse 911 will receive telephone and email notices from the new system.

While the Reverse 911 system allowed people to get warnings about emergencies near their homes only, the new system also can notify people about incidents around other locations, such as their workplaces or their children’s schools, said Cynthia Elliott, a sheriff’s emergency services program administrator.

Under VC Alert, people can choose to be notified in new ways. The system can alert people on their home, work and cellular phones, as well as by email, text, instant message or fax, Elliott said. People can choose the order in which the system should try their contact options, she said.

The system will cover the county’s unincorporated areas as well as Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, SantaPaula, Thousand Oaks and Ventura.

People in these areas with commercially available phone numbers will be automatically enrolled in the emergency notification system, Elliott said. People who don’t want emergency notifications can opt out, she said.

Residents also can register to get nonemergency notices, such as alerts on crime trends, road or school closures and community events, she said.

VC Alert will cost $97,900 to implement, Elliott said, adding that it was funded by a homeland security grant. Operating costs will be split among participating cities in following years, she said.

On the Net: http://www.vcalert.org

Copyright © 2012 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.