LEWISTON — Auburn, Lewiston and Poland residents with land lines — expect a phone call  at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18.

Lewiston Auburn 911 will be calling you.

This is no scam.

LA 911 will use its new CodeRed system to send a recorded message to every land line in Lewiston, Auburn and Poland to encourage every home and business to enroll in the CodeRed emergency notification system.

Operations Manager Tim Hall described it as a reverse 911 system.

“It’s not only to get the word out there that we offer this service, but the system will call each of the telephone numbers on file to determine if the number is valid or not valid,” Hall said.

Invalid numbers will be purged from the list.

About 30,000 land lines will be called Wednesday, Hall said.

LA 911 received a Homeland Security grant to pay for the CodeRed system.

Those receiving the call Wednesday will hear a recorded message explaining the CodeRed system and how to register. Caller IDs will display one of two phone numbers, 1-866-419-5000 or 1-855-969-4636, Hall said.

“CodeRed is only used in emergency situations,” Hall said. “If there is a gas leak, for example, and the fire department wants to get a message out that everyone should stay indoors or evacuate.”

Other uses could include missing children, bio-terrorism attacks, evacuation or boil-water notices.

Instead of calling everyone in the city, the system can call numbers in specific neighborhoods and streets — for example, a suspect is loose in a certain neighborhood, only those numbers would likely receive the initial alert.

Residents with land lines and cellphones are encouraged to sign up for the CodeRed system on each of the city’s websites. Cellphone customers can receive alerts by phone or text. Cellphone users can also download a CodeRed app.

Anyone with questions can contact Operations Manager Tim Hall at 207-786-5380, extension 5 or at thall@auburnmaine.gov.