Pepperell residents know they can call 9-1-1 to get assistance in the event of a police, fire or medical emergency. With the Reverse 911 system, Pepperell’s emergency services personnel can also notify residents and businesses about a potential emergency circumstance.

How Does Reverse 911 Work?: In the event of an emergency, Pepperell Emergency Services personnel can identify the affected area of Pepperell and record a message that describes the situation and recommends the protective actions residents should take. The Reverse 911 system will automatically call out to telephone numbers within that geographic area and deliver the recorded message. If phone lines are busy, the system will attempt to redial those numbers a predetermined number of times to make contact. If an answering machine picks up the call, the emergency message will be left on the machine.

System Features: The Reverse 911 system’s features make it an excellent tool for sharing information and alerting residents in the case of an emergency situation. It can provide an initial warning as well as specific instructions to protect at-risk citizens. Both factors are necessary for an effective warning. Reverse 911 can target specific geographic locations, warning only those people who are directly at risk. The system can deliver text messages to TTY/TDD devices. This feature has the potential to greatly enhance our ability to warn and protect citizens who are deaf or hard of hearing. System administrators can add telephone numbers to the database. This can be used to add Vonage telephone numbers, cell phone numbers, Verizon Broadband and Charter Communication telephone numbers to the system. The Pepperell Local Emergency Planning Group (LEPC) may periodically send out a test message to insure the system is working properly.

System Limitations: As with any system, the Reverse 911 system has its limitations. These can be minimized with diligent administration of the system, but will always exist to some degree. Unless manually added to the database, Reverse 911 will not notify people with cell phones, or phone numbers through Vonage, Verizon Broadband or Charter Communications. To minimize this, phone numbers and addresses may be registered for use with the Reverse 911 system by completing the form below.