Delaware Emergency Notification System (DENS)
The Delaware Emergency Notification System (DENS) is the primary system for public warning and emergency protective action information in the State of Delaware. Municipalities, Counties, and State Agencies utilize the system to inform and warn the public during emergencies that adversely affect the health, safety, and welfare of Delaware citizens. The system allows local 911 centers or emergency managers to send messages to the specific street, neighborhood, or larger areas affected by the event. In the event a line is busy, the DENS system will retry 2 additional times to deliver the message. If an answering machine or voicemail is reached, the system will deliver the emergency message there.
DENS allows emergency voice messages to be delivered to a home or business within the traditional land line telephone network. If you have this type of phone, your address and phone number is already in the DENS database. Cell phones are not automatically a part of the DENS database of contacts in your area in case of emergency. In order for you to receive your emergency messages from DENS you must register your cell phone in the DENS system.
Registering your phone enables DENS to geocode your phone number to your home (or work) address and can send messages to your cell phones and VOIP home phones. Post office boxes may not be used as addresses during registration because they do not have your physical location affiliated with them. If an emergency message has a text or e-mail included, registering your phone information will allow you to receive the text or e-mail message.
Multiple phone numbers may be registered. Officials especially urge those with unlisted phone numbers and new phone numbers or addresses to register, as well as those who use cell or VoIP phones instead of land lines in their homes or businesses.
