MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Colquitt County government will soon have the ability to quickly warn people of dangers like severe weather, escaped inmates or missing persons.

The board of commissioners voted Dec. 6 night to contract with OnSolve LLC for its Code RED mass notification system. When active, the system will allow Colquitt County residents to sign up for text alerts, emails or other notifications about emergency events.

And residents won’t have to wait long to join the mailing list, Colquitt County Emergency Management Director Justin Cox said in an interview Wednesday. He said he expected to notify OnSolve later that day about the commissioners’ decision and the system should be fully operational in January.

Several other counties have already gone to this system, Cox told commissioners. He showed them Cook County’s Code RED website and said Colquitt County’s would look similar.

Cox said the county will advertise the rollout so residents will know they can go to the Colquitt County website to enroll. Those who enroll will be able to choose what kinds of alerts they will receive, and those choices can be changed at any time.

Eight companies bid for the contract, with bids ranging from Inspiron Logistics’ $4,590 to ICS4S’s $313,500. OnSolve offered two options, one priced at $10,500 and the other at $7,200. The county chose OnSolve’s cheaper option, which was the second-lowest bid, but Cox pointed to Code RED’s wide use and long company history as reasons to go with OnSolve. OnSolve’s website says it’s been in mass emergency communications 25 years, the longest of any company still in business.

Cox said the less expensive service is automated and is the one most counties in the region use.

The more expensive option would allow county officials to add an unlimited number of other messages, which could include community events, election days, non-emergency announcements, etc.

He said if the need arises, the county could upgrade to that level of service in the future.