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Alert Bowie 2.0

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1. What is Alert Bowie 2.0?

Alert Bowie 2.0 is Bowie’s current alerting system. It replaced Alert Bowie, which has been in place since 2005. It’s a great way to receive information to keep you and your family safe and informed. Like its predecessor, the new and improved system provides updates to those who live and work in Bowie about what’s happening here, whether it is a hazmat incident, a traffic tie-up, or an event.

With Alert Bowie 2.0, City officials can send important information of your choosing to the devices you register. We also have the ability to pinpoint a particular area or street on the map when we need to send a specific message to those residents, such as in the case of a water main break or a dangerous situation.

2. What are some of the features of Alert Bowie 2.0?

• Delivers targeted alerts to those affected by an emergency in a particular area.
• Offers automated weather alerts, with the ability to define a “quiet period” when alerts will not be received.
• Sends alerts to your smart phone or tablet via an app and can provide an alert message as well as a map, a photo, or other relevant information in an attachment.
• Allows individuals to easily manage or update their account information.
• Sends recorded phone messages to landline or mobile phones in an emergency.

3. Why should I sign up for Alert Bowie 2.0?

Alert Bowie 2.0 provides accurate, up-to-the-minute notifications from the City of Bowie to you, wherever you may be.

If you are new to Bowie’s alert system, you will find that it’s a great way to stay informed and receive emergency alerts, public safety notices, and Bowie E-News updates. You choose the types of messages you receive and how you will receive them.

4. How does Alert Bowie 2.0 work?

The City of Bowie uses Alert Bowie 2.0 to send alerts, public safety messages and E-News updates to subscribers. The information you receive depends on which lists you subscribe to and the location(s) you provide.

5. What types of information can I receive via Alert Bowie 2.0?

• Emergency alerts:
o Automated severe weather warnings
o Emergency situations – i.e. hazmat incident, evacuation notice, natural disaster
• Public Safety Notices:
o Traffic problems in Bowie
o Police Department alerts – crime alerts, missing persons, etc.
o Health alerts
• Bowie E-News:
o Bowie News Flash (monthly summary of news & upcoming events)
o Bowie Spotlight
o Bowie Senior Newsletter
o City Council Actions
o City government closings/service interruptions
o Job vacancies
o Neighborhood specific news
o Pet Pickup Notices
o Skate Park News

6. Can I choose what information I receive from Alert Bowie 2.0?

Yes! One of the biggest benefits of Alert Bowie 2.0 is how personalized it is. It allows you to fully customize what kind of notifications you receive and how you receive them. You can also specify particular times during the day when you would prefer to block automatic weather alerts.

7. What are my options for receiving alerts?

With Alert Bowie 2.0 you can receive information via:
• Mobile application for Droid or Apple device (smart phone app)
• Text message (SMS) on your cell phone
• Email
• Telephone call to your cell phone or landline (only for severe weather alerts and on other very rare occasions)
•TTY

8. How will the City of Bowie use Alert Bowie 2.0?

This system will be used to contact you about imminent threats to health and safety. It will also be used to share notifications relevant to your location and can provide informational updates on a variety of topics of your choosing. Examples include severe weather, road closures, job opportunities, newsletters, and upcoming special events.

9. Who sends alerts?

Bowie’s alerting system is administered by the City of Bowie Public Information Office. Most alerts originate from within that office, but there are authorized alerts senders within the Police Department and other City offices. Pet Pickup alerts are sent out by Bowie Animal Control to notify subscribers when a loose pet has been picked up and is in the custody of Animal Control.

Automated weather alerts are sent based on geographic locations you provide. The City will also continue to send out its own weather alerts to subscribers when there is specific information to share about what’s going on in Bowie.

10. I'm interested! How do I register for Alert Bowie 2.0?

To register, simply follow the link to our Alert Bowie 2.0 page (www.cityofbowie.org/alerts) and select the "Sign Up Now" button. You will be asked to:
• Create a username and password.
• Provide an email address.
• Enter locations for which you wish to receive alerts. You can enter up to five locations (i.e. your home, your work, your child’s school, etc.).
• Select the alerts you wish to receive and how you want to receive the information (i.e. email, text message, fax, voice phone call, etc.). Please note that delivery by “voice” will not be used in every situation. However, automated weather alerts you elect to receive will be sent to all registered devices, including “voice” phone calls.
• Be sure to enter a “quiet time” if you do not wish to receive automated severe weather alerts when you are sleeping.
Alert Bowie 2.0

11. Why do I need to provide an address?

Individuals are asked to enter a valid address because it will allow us to send targeted alerts based on your location when there is something happening on your street or in your neighborhood, such as a hazmat incident or a water main break. Since weather alerts are automated and geographically based, you can receive them for any valid address in the United States or most other countries. You can register up to five locations, no matter where they are. For example, if you live in Bowie, work in DC and your son or daughter goes to college in Wilmington, North Carolina, you can receive automated severe weather alerts for all three locations. If you do not wish to provide your exact address,you can enter a street name, or the address of a public building (such as a school) near your home.

12. Who can register for Alert Bowie 2.0?

Anyone can sign up for Alert Bowie 2.0 regardless of where they live and/or work. However, with the exception of the automated Weather Alerts, the City of Bowie will only provide alerts and notifications for incidents/events with a potential impact to Bowie. Certain types of alerts will only be received by individuals within a certain radius of the event/incident location (i.e., public safety incidents).

Similar systems are in place throughout the National Capital Region. If you live and/or work outside of Bowie, and want to receive traffic or crime alerts for other cities or counties in the area, you're encouraged to sign-up for that respective jurisdiction's alerting system. You can find links to all of the alerting systems in the National Capital Region at capitalert.gov.

13. Can I receive alerts from other parts of the region?

Governments throughout the NCR offer free subscriptions to their alerting systems. So if you live in Bowie and work in Prince William County, you can sign up for alerts in both locations and everything in between. Sign up for other NCR alerting systems

14. Will my contact information be shared with others?

No. The information that you provide will be used only for Alert Bowie 2.0 notification purposes. We will not give or sell your contact or location information to any vendor or other organization.

15. What if my phone number(s) or email address(es) change?

The system is only as good as the information you provide. If your contact information changes, please log into your account and update your information or call 301-809-3032 and we'll do the updating for you.

16. I no longer wish to receive alerts. How do I disable my account?

You can stop receiving notifications at any time by removing your contact information from your profile. If you wish to completely delete your profile, email ucooper@cityofbowie.org or call 301-809-3032.

17. Is there an app for Alert Bowie 2.0?

Yes! There is an app for Android and iPhone users. Search for “Everbridge Member” on the Google Play or Apple Store. These apps are free; however text and data charges may apply. Please check with your mobile carrier for more details. There is no application available for Blackberry or Windows devices at this time. You must create your account online and then once you have an account, you can download the app from Google Play or the App Store and then use the application for managing your account and for receiving alerts as notifications on your mobile device.

18. How much does Alert Bowie 2.0 cost?

Alert Bowie 2.0 is free to all subscribers. All you have to do is register. If you pay by the text message, text messaging rates may apply.

19. What are automated weather alerts?

Alert Bowie 2.0 allows you to enter multiple addresses and receive severe weather alerts for these locations. So if you live in Bowie, work in DC, and have a son or daughter attending college in North Carolina, you can provide those addresses and receive automated alerts when there is severe weather in those areas.

You choose which alerts you receive (tornado, severe thunderstorm, blizzard, hurricane, high wind warning, etc.) and the time of day you wish to receive them.

To receive these alerts, sign up for the alert category entitled “Severe Weather.”

20. What is the Quiet Time feature?

Most of the alerts we issue will occur between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. However, because weather alerts are automated and are delivered as weather events occur, you may select a range of hours during which you do not wish to be contacted. This feature, known as "Quiet Time." With the exception of tornado warnings, no weather alerts will be delivered to any device during the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. If you wish to further restrict the hours during which alerts are sent to you, please log into your account and set your own Quiet Time.To enable this feature, visit the “Severe Weather Subscriptions” under the “My Alerts” section of your profile.

21. What is the difference between a watch, warning and advisory?

In general, a weather warning is more severe than a watch or advisory. The National Weather Service in Sterling, Va. is the local office responsible for issuing all weather forecasts and warnings for Maryland and Virginia. For the official list of terminology they use, visit the NWS link. National Weather Service

22. What number will show up when you send me a text message? What number will show up when you call me? What address will email notifications come from?

When you receive text messages from Alert Bowie 2.0, the sender will be displayed as 893-61. We encourage you to add this text number into your mobile phone contacts to easily identify text messages that are alerts. In the case of automated weather alerts or when we elect to contact you by telephone call, the call will show as coming from 240-544-5631 or City of Bowie. We encourage you to also add this number in your mobile phone contacts to easily identify it as an alert call. In addition, email notifications will display “Alert Bowie” as the sender and you are encouraged to add this to your address book or safe list to ensure it does not get marked as SPAM by your email provider.

23. Why do I get weather alerts in the middle of the night?

The system is set up to only send the most urgent of weather alerts, such as a Tornado Warning for Bowie, during overnight hours.Other automated weather alerts are sent between the hours of 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.

24. Why do I get weather alerts via a phone call?

One of the features of Alert Bowie 2.0 is the ability to send alerts via a recorded message to registered phone numbers or to Bowie numbers that are in the White pages. These types of calls will only be used in very limited circumstances, such as when a Tornado Warning has been issued, or when we think it is critical to quickly reach as many affected people as possible.

25. Who do I contact if I have problems, questions or comments?

If you can’t find the answer to your question or have problems or comments about our alerting system, please email or call Una Cooper at 301-809-3032.