NEW: Get with the program—super-customize your email alerts from the town

The town now sends out alerts through Nixle.com
Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The town board was so impressed with the New Castle Police Department’s use of Nixle.com that the town changed from its e-alert system to Nixle-only, at a savings to the town of around $3,000.  Nixle.com allows you to tailor which messages you get and how you get them.  If you’d been on Nixle last week, you’d have received updates on burglaries, coyotes and road closings.

Nixle (www.nixle.com) is a highly secure, free emergency alert service that you can use to get updates sent to your email, cell phone and the web from New Castle and other communities.  Sign up for Nixle to get the latest alerts, traffic advisories, and other information from the Town.  Nixle is in operation now, and will replace the current eAlert system by the end of April.

Nixle is totally under your control:

  * Your personal information is safe, secure, and held confidentially on Nixle’s servers.  The Town has no access to your personal information.
  * You only get the alerts you want.  You can customize Nixle to send all alerts to your email, and just certain alerts (like emergency ones) to your cell phone.  It’s under your control, and you can change it whenever you want.
  * Nixle works with over 3,800 communities, not just New Castle.  If you have a family member in another community, or if you commute somewhere else to work, you can add that location to your Nixle account and get alerts from there as well.
  * Nixle is not just for emergencies:  The New Castle Police Department and New Castle Department of Public Works both use Nixle today.  You can get information on road closures, trees down, and other alerts in your area.  We will be adding other community organizations, such as Recreation and Parks, over the next few months so you can have one source for alerts from the Town and its agencies.
  * The service is free, other than your cell phone carrier’s text message charges.  By customizing Nixle, you can minimize the number text messages you receive, specifying those you want.

You can always see the latest information about New Castle by going to our Nixle page.

Sign up for Nixle at www.nixle.com!  For more information, see below:

The town has excerpted some of the questions and answers from Nixle’s site below:

So what is Nixle?

Nixle is a Community Information Service dedicated to helping you stay connected to the information that matters most to you, depending on your physical location. You stay connected to your local police department, your children’s schools, your local community agencies and organizations, and the important information from other locations throughout the country that are relevant to you. Our service is built on the most secure, reliable, and high-speed distribution platform, ensuring that you receive trusted and immediate, geographically relevant information. Information is immediately available over your cell phone by text message, by email, and over the web. Your account can be customized so you receive the information that matters most to you. Whether it is where you live, work, or have friends or family throughout the country, the information is immediately available to you over your mobile phone, email and computer.

What messages would I receive through Nixle?

Only authenticated agencies and community organizations can securely publish information. There are four types of messages; Alerts (many would refer to this as an emergency type alert), Advisories (less urgent need-to-know information), Community Information (day-to-day neighborhood to community-level information), Traffic (very localized traffic information).

Do I have to register to use Nixle?

Anyone can view information by going to www.nixle.com without registering. However, to customize the information you receive and the locations you receive it from, in addition to receiving information by text message and/or email you must set up an account. Once registered you can personalize your locations and your preferences, making the service fit your needs.
How does registration work?

We ask for routine information in the registration process. First set-up a user name and password. Then enter your address or closest cross-street. Then choose where you want to receive your information, whether by text over your mobile device or e-mail. Add as many locations as you would like at no additional cost. It’s that simple!

Do I have to give my mobile phone number?

No. However, the strength of the Nixle system is the delivery of real-time messages when you’re on-the-go. The best way to stay up-to-date with important information that could affect you and your family is to receive notifications by e-mail and mobile device.