NIXLE to change notifications this May

Major changes are coming to Blackwell's NIXLE alert service in May, says Blackwell Chief of Police Dewayne Wood.
NIXLE, a text-based mobile notification system, has been used by the City of Blackwell to send breaking news alerts, warnings, and community notifications since 2009.

Now, more than a decade later, it's going app-based.
After May 6, Blackwell residents who subscribed to NIXLE through their e-mail on the NIXLE website will only receive notifications via their registered e-mail address, or through push notifications on the EverBridge app, the parent company of the NIXLE service. 


“This will only impact the NIXLE users who registered on the website with their e-mail address,” Wood said. “Those who simply opted in by texting their ZIP code to the number will continue to receive text/SMS notifications as usual.”
The number of NIXLE users in Blackwell, Wood said, is close to 3,600, with just under 1,000 of those receiving e-mail notifications along with texts.
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"While most of our users are solely registered through their text messaging, that's about 1/4 of our base that will stop receiving texts once the service rolls over in May, and that's a lot of people who could be missing out on potentially life-saving information for us,” Wood said.


The EverBridge app can be downloaded on the iTunes App Store or the Google Play Store. 
Upon downloading the application, the user will be asked to input his or her information and to register for the service. Individual users should make sure that their notifications are turned on for ease of access.


Wood said that anyone with trouble downloading and registering for the app can call the police department for assistance at 580-363-5490.