Jay County is getting Smart

It’s time to get Smart.

Jay County Sheriff’s Office is switching to Rave Messaging and Smart911. The county was previously using the Nixle Alert system.

Contessa Stilts, assistant 911 director, explained Rave Messaging, like Nixle Alert, allows anyone to sign up for notifications from state and local authorities about weather, traffic and other emergencies, such as the spread of COVID-19. Alerts are available via call, text and email. The county can also send out poll questions during emergency situations.

Smart911, which comes paired with the notification system, allows individuals to sign up online and provides information to 911 responders in the event of an emergency. The website and app offer fields for a variety of topics, including a person’s health, household, vehicle and pet information. Photos, such as home floor plans or pictures of family, can also be uploaded.

“You can (enter) as little or as much as you want,” Stilts said.

When the phone number tied to an account calls 911, information that has been previously provided by users will pop up on a dispatcher’s computer screen as they take the call. For instance, Stilts explained, if a caller is diabetic, the operator would have that information immediately.

Stilts became assistant director in January and has been at the sheriff’s office for about four and a half years. She explained she used the system when during her eight and a half years working in public safety for Delaware County. One of the features she finds most helpful is its ability to locate callers.

About 90% of calls are from cell phones, she estimated, and mobile devices don’t provide an address to 911 dispatchers. The Smart911 app, however, can be downloaded to a phone and allow the app to pinpoint their location.

“It gives us a greater chance to find you,” Stilts said.

With a caller’s critical information at their fingertips, dispatchers are able to pass on key details, such as a house floor plan in the event of a fire or a missing child’s photo, to responders in the field.

Jay County Sheriff Dwane Ford advocated for the capabilities of Rave messaging and Smart911.

“I think it’s just better to reach out to more people,” Ford said. “It’s just a better system all around.”

Another feature of the new system allows users to receive notifications while traveling.   Smart911 is available in 40 states and more than 1,500 municipalities across the country. If a Jay County user is driving through an area that also uses Smart911 — such as Delaware County — they will also receive emergency messages sent out by the corresponding county.

Hopes are for Jay County to switch from Nixle Alert to Rave Messaging and Smart911 in January. Nixle Alert will no longer send out notifications to Jay County users once the county switches to Rave Messaging. (The City of Portland and Mercer County Sheriff’s Office use the Nixle system.)

So far, there are only about 2,000 users signed up for the Jay County’s Rave Messaging platform, as opposed to about 8,000 signed up for Nixle Alert messages. (The sheriff’s office has been sending out reminders via Nixle to sign up for the new system for a couple of months.)

Those interested can download the app or sign up at bit.ly/signupsmart911.