Reverse 911 is a public safety communications system developed by Cassidian Communications, formerly PlantCML, a unit of EADS North America

EADS

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...

. It is used by public safety organizations in Canada and the United States to communicate with groups of people in a defined geographic area. The system uses a database of telephone numbers and associated addresses, which, when tied into geographic information system

Geographic Information System

A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...

s (GIS), can be used to deliver recorded emergency notifications to a selected set of telephone service subscribers. The term is a registered trademark in the United States.

Case studies

The system is used to notify residents in emergency situations. During the 2010 Boston water emergency

2010 Boston Water Emergency

On May 1, 2010, a water pipe in Weston, Massachusetts broke and began flooding into the Charles River. This led to unsanitary water conditions in the greater Boston area which resulted in Governor Deval Patrick declaring a state of emergency and an order for residents to boil drinking water. The...

, government agencies used the system to notify a large number of Boston-area residents in particular neighborhoods to boil water before drinking. During the much more contained 2004 bulldozer rampage

Marvin Heemeyer

Marvin John Heemeyer was a welder and an automobile muffler repair shop owner. Outraged over the outcome of a zoning dispute, he armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete and used it on June 4, 2004, to demolish the town hall, a former judge's home, and other buildings in...

 in Granby, Colorado

Granby, Colorado

The Town of Granby is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Grand County, Colorado, United States. Granby is situated along U.S. Highway 40 in Middle Park about west of Denver, Colorado, southwest of Rocky Mountain National Park...

, authorities used Reverse 911 to notify the approximately 1,500 residents of the town to evacuate from the bulldozer's path. During the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...

, Seaside

Seaside, Oregon

Seaside is a city in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. The name Seaside is derived from Seaside House, a historic summer resort built in the 1870s by railroad magnate Ben Holladay. The city's population was 6,457 at the 2010 census.-History:...

 and Astoria, Oregon

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...

, residents were notified by Reverse 911 and sirens to evacuate low-lying areas.

External links

• Reverse 911 at Cassidian Communications