SANGAMON COUNTY, Ill. (WAND) - Sangamon County has implemented a new alert messaging system.

The Director of Sangamon County Emergency Management, Bill Lee, says Sangamon Alert Messaging (SAM) is a high-speed emergency mass notification service provided by OnSolve, LLC.

"I took over this job in the summer of 2018 and one of the first things I noticed; we had no way, as a county, to reach out to the citizens in the event of a major disaster," Lee says.

The system will be used as the county's emergency communication outreach to both residents and staff.

"The intent is to save lives and to prevent chaos," Lee says."We've made it available to all of the town mayors and presidents, all of the school districts, all of the fire departments and all police departments. They can use it within their boundaries in their townships."

The system sends phone calls, text messages, emails, and posts to social media channels to keep people informed during emergency situations.

Examples of when it may be used include severe weather, evacuation notices, boil water notices, floods, criminal activity, and missing persons/children.

Sangamon County Sheriff, Jack Campbell says the alert system will be a huge asset for his team.

"Say a vehicle left a scene, we can put out over the system the type of vehicle we're looking for," Campbell says. "We can also use it in relation to traffic hazards, whether it be a crash or water on the road way."

According to Campbell, in emergency situations, time is of the essence. He says this system will help reach as many people as quickly as possible.

"Public safety is the number one thing on almost everybody's mind, especially right now," Campbell says. "The fact that people would sign up to receive our messages would allow us to better protect them, and that's all anybody wants anymore is just that safety and security."

The county will have the ability to better target notifications geographically, only notifying those community members impacted by an alert.

In addition to county officials, several government agencies and school districts can send alert messages using the SAM system.

At this time, residents can also sign up to receive alerts from:

  • Auburn Fire Protection District
  • Loami Fire Protection District
  • Rochester Fire Protection District
  • Auburn Police Department
  • Loami Police Department
  • Sangamon County Emergency Management
  • City of Auburn
  • Mechanicsburg Fire Protection District
  • Sangamon County Rescue Squad
  • Village of Buffalo
  • Village of Mechanicsburg
  • Sangamon County Sheriff's Office
  • Chatham Fire Protection District
  • New Berlin CUSD #16
  • Sherman Fire Protection District
  • Village of Chatham
  • New Berlin Police Department
  • Sherman Police Department
  • Village of Curran
  • Pawnee CUSD #11
  • Village of Sherman
  • Dawson Fire Protection District
  • Pawnee Fire Protection District
  • Southern View Police Department
  • Village of Dawson
  • Pawnee Police Department
  • Village of Southern View
  • Village of Divernon
  • Village of Pawnee
  • Spaulding Police Department
  • Village of Grandview
  • Pleasant Plains Fire Protection District
  • Springfield City School District #186
  • Village of Illiopolis
  • Pleasant Plains Police Department
  • Tri-City CUSD #1
  • Jerome Police Department
  • Village of Pleasant Plains
  • Tri-City Police Department
  • Village of Jerome
  • Riverton Fire Protection District
  • City of Virden
  • Leland Grove Police Department
  • Riverton Police Department
  • Williamsville CUSD #15
  • City of Leland Grove
  • Village of Riverton
  • Village of Williamsville

Registering for SAM is free.

Residents can customize their alert preferences and choose to receive alerts via phone call, text, and/or email.

Residents can sign up for SAM by clicking HERE. 

Lee says all of the information provided to sign up is confidential.

"The company we've contracted from; they insured us the information is not sold or reused in any way," Lee says. "We own the information in their database."