PRESS RELEASE from Robert Graham Fannin County EMA Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 9, 2013

Blue Ridge, Georgia – Fannin County Emergency Management Agency will utilize a new communications service, effective immediately, that allows us to send important, valuable community information directly to residents using the latest technology.

The Nixle Community Information Service allows us to create and publish messages to be delivered to subscribed residents instantly via cell phone text message and/or email. Notifications can also be accessed online at Nixle’s web site at www.nixle.com.

Messages may include Severe Weather Alerts, and missing persons notices as well as other relevant safety and community event information.

Robert Graham, Emergency Management Agency Director for Fannin County says

“this new tool will greatly improve our ability to give our citizens early warning during severe weather and other events that may affect the county. The system can also be used for notifying the community of missing persons, road closures, and other information.”

The service is secure, reliable and easy to use for our group.

The messages can be sent specifically to residents registered within a ¼ mile radius, giving them the opportunity to receive trustworthy information relevant only to their neighborhood. Residents decide from which local agencies they want to receive information. Subscribers can also choose the way in which alerts are received, whether it is by email, text message, or over the web.

Nixle builds on the foundations of other public-to-public communication services, such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, but adds a key component: security. When citizens receive information from our agency via Nixle, they know it can be trusted.

Residents of Fannin County and those in neighboring communities can immediately begin receiving pertinent information via text message, email, and web by registering at www.nixle.com. Cell phone users may also register by texting READYFANNIN to 888777.

We are very excited to have you experience it for yourself.

About Nixle
Nixle is a community information service provider built exclusively to provide secure and reliable communications. It is the first authenticated and secure service that connects municipal agencies and community organizations to residents in real time, delivering information to geographically targeted consumers over their cell phones (via text messages), through e-mails and via Web access. Nixle has secured a partnership with Nlets (the International Justice and Public Safety Network), allowing local police departments nationwide to send immediate alerts and advisories. For more information, visit www.nixle.com.