Fire officials hope the switch to a new townwide communication system will make it easier to get emergency information out to residents without affecting the department’s bottom line.

Though emergency management officials have used telephone lines to make reverse-911 calls to residents during an emergency in the past, Fire Marshal Jeffrey Emanuelson said the new system – known as CodeRED and implemented as part of this year’s budget – is an Internet-based network that gives the Fire Department the upgraded ability to make 60,000 calls in an hour.

Despite the annual cost of $15,000, Emanuelson said the department could make the transition from the older, landline-based system without affecting the budget or the town’s tax rate. At the same time, the new system offers a range of new abilities, from contacting residents on their cell phones to sending out text message alerts and updates.

“Under the old system, we had we had to purchase telephone lines from FairPoint ... It could make nine phone calls at a time, (multiplied by) however many repetitions we had to get out. It would take hours to do a townwide notification for a town of about 30,000,” Emanuelson said. “There is no software to update and nothing to maintain. We don’t have to do anything here.”

While plans to upgrade the department’s emergency communication system were in the works during last year’s budgeting process, Emanuelson said December’s ice storm brought home the advantage of being able to contact with residents via their cell phones rather than landline telephones.

“A lot of landlines were down during the ice storm, and even though we were making phone calls, they were going unanswered,” he said.

CodeRED has the advantage of allowing residents to sign up for the notifications through the town’s Web site as well, according to Emanuelson.

For those residents without Internet access, a manual sign-up process will be available at key locations around town, like the Kelley Library and fire and police departments.

Fire Chief Kevin Breen said the Web-based communication systems are beginning to garner more attention from emergency officials across the state and country.

“You think about all these disasters, and we’ve started to notice a lot of universities and areas have these Webbased systems. UNH has it for parents and students can do the same,” Breen said. “For instance, if we have the ice storm again, we will be able to use this system to reach out to people; they can key in a number (if they) require additional help or service.”

In the future, Emanuelson believes the system will also allow the town to send out e-mail alerts or updates to residents as well as text messages and prerecorded telephone calls. One of the many advantages of the new system, Emanuelson said, is that the cost to the department stays the same even as new options are made available.