COBB COUNTY - Imagine being evacuated from your home for an emergency, but not knowing when you can return because the only phone number people have to reach you is your home number.

Cobb County 911 executives know that this could actually be a reality, and have launched a program called CodeRED that they hope will open more lines of communication throughout the county.

"It doesn't do anyone any good to call their home to tell them everything is OK or that it's OK to go back to the office or home when the only line we have is one they obviously can't reach," said Tammi Conniff, Cobb County senior 911 analyst. "We've always had a database with published phone numbers, but needed a way to get any phone numbers that weren't published or cell phone numbers to be able to reach people in case of an emergency, so we came up with Code RED."

Beginning today, Cobb residents will be receiving phone calls from the system encouraging them to register their numbers in the reverse 911 system by visiting cobbcounty.org/911 and clicking on the CodeRED Reverse 911 Registration tab.

"We're certainly not making anyone do this, it's all voluntary, and all of the information we receive will only be used for emergency notifications," Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley said.

Business owners and residents could add both land line and mobile numbers into the system. Those who have changed phone numbers or addresses within the past year or use cell phones or VoIP phones as their primary source of contact are especially encouraged to register.

Conniff said the new system took over in September, but the volume of registered phone numbers has greatly increased in the past month. As residents become aware of the program and informed of its benefits and uses, she said she hopes the database will continue to grow.

"It's not just for those in unincorporated Cobb; residents in all of the cities are also encouraged to register their numbers," Conniff said.

Conniff said the system had about 227,000 phone numbers on Friday, and that 3,000 of those alone came in just before the weekend.

"This will also help with missing children reports, if prisoners have broken loose and are in someone's area, and especially if we have another disaster like September's floods," Conniff said. "We just want to keep everyone as informed and safe as possible."