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1. What is the WISE Alert service?

Via SMS technology community residents can be notified by mobile phone text message in the event of an emergency, such as gas leaks or severe fires, Amber Alerts, road closures, water interruptions, Homeland Security/terrorist alerts, and more. Read more...

2. How does the WISE Alert service work?

In an emergency situation an alert will be sent by City of Iron Mountain authorized personnel and you will receive a text message on you mobile phone.

Additional updates or instructions may follow throughout the emergency situation. Even if the mobile phones are busy, the messages should still come through to your phone.

We will make every effort to update the City's website www.cityofironmountain.com in real time with more information about the emergency.

Other non-emergency SMS lists may be for informational notifications or time sensitive notices such as cancellation of a scheduled public meeting.

3. What is text-messaging and how do I sign-up for it?

Text messages are short messages sent to your phone, similar to receiving a page. Each message contains between 100 and 160 characters, or about 15 words, depending upon your carrier. An example of a text message is the notification you receive on your phone when you have new voicemail.

Most carriers activate the service automatically. You should check with your wireless service provider to make sure your text messaging is active.

4. What types of alerts will be sent?

What types of alerts will be sent?
Alert types may include life safety, weather cancellations, and accidents involving utilities or roadways, or disaster notification such as a terrorist attack. A few examples of the types of messages that can be sent are:

Homeland Security Advisory information
Amber Alerts
Crime Alerts
Road Closures
Severe Traffic Disruptions
Severe Fire Emergencies and Evacuations
Water Service Interruptions
City Government Closings/Schedule Change
and more

5. When is a message sent?

When a situation or event occurs designated, authorized personnel objectively decide whether a message should be broadcast. If a message is broadcast pertaining to a specific category such as Road Closures, then all subscribed users in that category will receive a short text message on their mobile phone, alpha pager or email alerting them of the situation.

When you receive a message, please read the messages promptly and follow the instructions within that message.

Additional instructions may follow throughout the emergency situation. We will make every effort to update the City’s web site with more information about the emergency. In addition, you should tune to local TV and radio.

6. How long does it take to receive an alert?

A message generally takes under 30 seconds after it is broadcast before it reaches the recipient's mobile phone, alpha pager or email. There are many factors that can influence the length of time before delivery, including the user's wireless carrier, location of the user, responsiveness of the mobile phone, internet traffic etc.

7. How long are these messages?

The City of Iron Mountain will exercise its discretion in keeping the message as short as possible. Different carriers have different limitations which could result in some messages being truncated.

8. Will my mobile phone work in a major emergency?

Alerts are delivered using the text messaging (SMS network) feature of your mobile phone. The alerts come across like a page on a pager. All cell phone carriers, and paging companies, offer text messaging. Nearly all phones purchased within the past few years are text messaging capable. If you are unsure, contact your wireless service provider to ask about your phone and text messaging.

9. What is the cost of this service?

The City of Iron Mountain is offering the WISE Alert service free to residents of Iron Mountain and the entire surrounding community. You may sign up free of charge to any of the WISE Alerts lists. Some wireless service providers may charge you a few pennies per text message received. Contact your wireless service provider to find out.

10. How can I find out if the e-mail address my service provider gave me will work?

You can test your phone by sending a plain text email to your own phone from your e-mail software. Make sure your e-mail is set up to send plain text only. In the To address use your 10 digit phone number and the email your provider gave you. (Example: 9061112222@yourcarrier.com) You should receive a text message within a few minutes or seconds. If you do not receive any message contact your service provider to troubleshoot the problem. We suggest you try this test before you sign up to any WISE Alerts list.

To change your settings in Outlook to send plain text:
On the top menu choose Tools then Options. Choose the Send Tab. Under "Mail Sending Format" choose "Plain Text" then click OK.

11. How do I Unsubscribe

Select the unsubscribe link in the notification you received or follow this link http://www.ci.ironmountain.mi.us/list.asp?mode=del
Enter your email address in the designated box and click on the Submit button. A new page will appear showing all of the lists you subscribed to under that email address. Place a check in the box next to the list you wish to unsubscribe and click on the Unsubscribe button.

12. What if I have a problem Subscribing or Unsubscribing?

Use the Contact Us button found in the page banner. Describe the problem. Provide us with information to contact you by email or phone

13. How do I read text messages on my phone?

If you are unfamiliar with reading text messages on your phone, try these links to learn more about your
particular phone, consult your mobile phone manual, or ask your service provider:

Nokia http://www.nokiahowto.com
Motorola http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/manual.html
Ericsson http://www.ericsson.com/consumers/