Ionia County launches new alert system

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Ionia County launched a new alert system, and county leaders are urging residents to sign up. The county is switching from the Rave Alert system to Hyper-Reach.

The new emergency alert system will deliver rapid notifications during hazardous and urgent situations through a combination of phone calls, text, and email messages, and TTY/TDD service for the hearing impaired. It can reach thousands of targeted households in seconds and simultaneously extend alerts via social media, Alexa-enabled smart speakers, browser notifications, and FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system for most mobile phones manufactured since 2011.

“Our mission is to protect the people of Ionia County, as effectively and efficiently as possible,” said Sgt. Fredrick Straubel, Director of Emergency Management Ionia County. “After reviewing several emergency notification providers, Hyper-Reach stood out as the best combination of capability, flexibility, and value. We’re excited to bring this powerful tool to our community.”

The county plans to use the service primarily for alerts about weather and environmental hazards, criminal activity, and missing persons. Landline phones are automatically enrolled for community alerts, but weather alerts to landline phones and community and weather alerts to VoIP phones, mobile phones, and email addresses are only included when people enroll.

Residents and people who work in Ionia County are encouraged to enroll now (using a city/county address) either by:

• Calling or texting “Alert” to 616-522-8012 or

• Going to the website: http://hyperreach.com/miioniasignup.html

Residents can get emergency alerts via their Alexa-enabled smart speakers just by saying “Alexa, enable Hyper-Reach” and following the Alexa-provided instructions. With more than 70 million US households using Alexa devices, there are hundreds or thousands of County residents with Alexa units.

Residents can also download the Hyper-Reach Anywhere app on their smartphones. Hyper-Reach Anywhere is a free smartphone app that allows individual residents to manage and monitor the alerts they receive, both for their home, office, and other addresses they care about, such as those of elderly relatives or friends.

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