Mayor encourages BCAlert users to sign up again

Residents who signed up for BCAlert prior to the start of 2015 will likely need to renew their accounts, Mayor Peter Christie said during February's regular City Council meeting.

BCAlert is a free notification system that law enforcement and emergency medical services can use to inform citizens about news, weather and community events across several analog and digital communication devices.

Benton County contracted with a new company, Everbridge, at the start of the year, and many residents were purged, Christie said.

"Prior to this change, Bella Vista had 1,800 to 1,900 signed up for this service," he said. "We currently have 900 signed up."

Despite the change, the service will still be known as BCAlert, albeit with a few improvements, according to Michael DeRose, Benton County's director of emergency communications. New features include smartphone apps for Apple and Android users, the ability for users to prioritize devices, and allows them to set "quiet hours" for overnight alerts, DeRose said.

Bella Vista Police Chief Ken Farmer said the system is underutilized and encouraged residents to sign up.

"We can use it to alert the public about news, weather, road closings and so on," he said. "The program is free and paid for through taxes. Some (subscribers) were imported, but we lost a lot of them. It'd be a safe bet to reapply."

When an alert goes out, it's sent to a variety of devices the user has registered, Farmer said, which can include smartphones, tablets, computers and land lines. The department most recently used BCAlert to tell residents about delays in trash pickup, Farmer said.

Subscribers don't need a texting plan to receive text notifications, but will pay a standard messaging fee if they received a text alert, Farmer said.

"But with so many devices available they don't have to receive text," Farmer added.

Registration requires an email address. To sign up, go to www.bcalert.com. Click "sign up" on the banner at the top of the web page. From there, residents will be prompted to create a user name and password, which will be linked to their registration email.

Farmer said he's met with Roxie Wright, Bella Vista Public Library director, and has trained her to assist residents who don't have an email address or an Internet connection at home.

However, residents do not have to register for BCAlert to get phone calls about tornado warnings, Farmer said. Those alerts emanate from a partnership between Benton County and the National Weather Service. All numbers in the county's 911 database are downloaded and land-line users receive a phone call regardless.

Tom Sissom contributed to this report.

General News on 03/04/2015