A smartphone and a television receive visual and audio alerts to test Alert Ready, a national public alert system in Montreal on May 7, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
A Manitoba community has made history as the first municipality in Canada to receive automated Alert Ready messages to landline phones.
The RM of Grey, approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, received their first alert Wednesday during the national test of the emergency alert system.
The ability to send the alert tone to landlines ensures those without cell phones, or areas without reliable cell phone service, still receive the automated emergency messages.
Called “Connect,” the technology was developed in Winnipeg by All-Net and uses the NAAD system (Alert Ready), which disseminates all emergency alerts in Canada.
“The ability to make landline phones ring is significant in rural and remote areas with limited cellular coverage. Furthermore, the messages can now get out to the elderly and those without a cellular phone,” said Ray Franzmann, Reeve of the RM of Grey.
Approximately 35 percent of municipal governments in Manitoba are already using “Connect” for their regular daily communication.
