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In the case of the recent boil water order, the Reverse 911 system was activated around 3:03 p.m. Friday, July 17, shortly after the order went into effect, according to Lisa Hotsenpiller, communications director.
Calls were suspended at 10 p.m. Friday and resumed about 7:57 a.m. Saturday, July 18. The last call was made at 3:52 p.m. Saturday. Eleven land phone lines were used to make the calls.
"All in all, it took about 12 to 15 hours," said City Administrator Jim Briggs.
At Monday's city council meeting, Councilman Jeff Mohesky said he received some complaints from people about the Reverse 911 calls.
Briggs said that while the system worked well, "we're looking into how we can improve it and what options are available."
In a letter to Brian Boehmer, assistant city administrator, Hotsenpiller said she is looking into an addition to the Reverse 911 program that allows thousands of calls to be made at one time.
Washington's alert system currently has about 9,705 phone numbers.
According to statistics compiled by Hotsenpiller, about 1,979 calls, or 20.4 percent, were answered by a person and 4,525 calls, or 46.6 percent, went to answering machines. About 1,039 calls, or 10.7 percent, timed out and 897 calls or 9.2 percent, were intercepted by an operator.
The data also showed that in 595 calls placed, or 6.1 percent, people hung up before the notification could be delivered while 571, or 5.9 percent, of the calls detected a fax tone. Only 102 calls, or 1.1 percent, recorded busy signals.
The Reverse 911 system makes two attempts to contact an individual. After two attempts, it will not try for a third time, Briggs said.
Initially, dispatchers used a database through AT&T to place residents and business owners within the corporate city limits on the call list. The city also can update the list as people relocate.
The current call list does not include cell phone numbers, listings of individuals who use other phone service vendors or who live outside the city limits.
People not included on the initial list made in 2006 may register their telephone number with the dispatcher's office to be added to the call list. Hotsenpiller said she has already received requests from the public to be added.
"We also will be initiating a program through our Web site in which people can provide me with their name, address and phone number so, if necessary, they can be added manually to the system for future notifications," she said.
That feature could be available by the end of the week, Hotsenpiller added.
Briggs noted that in addition to the Reverse 911 system, notifications were sent to The Missourian and local radio stations. A notice of the boil water order was posted on the city's Web page Friday afternoon and Charter Cable Channel 10, the city's public access channel.
Briggs said this is first time that he can remember that the system was implemented citywide.
Dispatchers also used the reverse 911 system Monday night when city crews pumped chlorine into Well No. 4.
"That call Monday was a zoned Reverse 911 call between the areas of Jefferson Street and the eastern city limits and from Route 100 to the river," Briggs said. "People in that area may have smelled or tasted chlorine in the water system."
City staff also may make calls when the boil order has been lifted, Briggs said.
Washington's reverse 911 system was purchased in 2006, when the city council authorized a contract with Sigma Communications LLC of Indianapolis, Ind.
