What is Reverse 9-1-1?

Reverse 911 is a tool that is used to call large groups of people for public safety (except weather related emergencies) matters and homebound Guardian Calls.

Why would Reverse 911 call me?

Reverse 911 will contact every phone number in a designated area for incidents such as criminal activity or crime prevention notices, community watch meetings, evacuations, hazardous materials spills, 911 service interruptions and/or sheltering in place.  The health department has used our services to help notify citizens about food concerns in certain areas of the county.  The Sheriff's Department has used Reverse 911 to apprehend suspects, to let everyone know of a rash of burglaries in an area.

Why is Reverse 911 not used to warn about weather emergencies?

There are numerous weather related events that happen so frequently that this could prevent our staff from handling the call volume correctly.  The emergency alert system (EAS) is much faster and uses different ways of communicating weather related notifications.

What is Guardian Calling?

Guardian call is a voluntary homebound or "okay" check.  The system will call anyone who signs up to verify they are okay.  All that is needed from the person called is entry of a password.  The calls can be suspended when Davidson County 911 is notified that the resident will be away from home.  Upon return, the calls can begin again. For further information you may contact the center at 336-242-2132.  
      (The Guardian Call will begin at the time listed on the form and will attempt to call you 3 times in 40 minute intervals. If after the third attempt,
      and no ok passcode has been entered, an automatic call will be generated to your emergency contacts. The contacts will receive            
      a message stating that  "Guardian Call" was unable to verify the individual's welfare is ok and that the emergency contact will be required to 
      respond to the residence to verify welfare.  After the message is delivered, the contact person will be prompted to verify their response. If
      response cannot be verified, at this time an officer will be sent to the residence to check the welfare of the subscriber.

            **Davidson County 9-1-1 assumes no liability for the welfare for welfare checks that cannot be verified due to any system error, or failure
               of an emergency contact response.  The Guardian Call system should not be used by the public in any manner as a means to  
               determine an emergency of lack thereof.**

How does my phone number get to the Reverse 911 for notification?

The six area phone companies provide this information to the center for phone numbers they have issued.  We sign a contract agreeing that the information cannot be used for any other purpose than Reverse 911 call outs.  The information is not accessible for use in criminal investigations, medical or fire situations.  The Davidson County 911 center keeps this information secured and not all employees can access the information.