Foothills County and High River are dropping one emergency alert system for a better one.

Emergency Services manager for the County, Darlene Roblin says, like many area municipalities, they used the Safe Communities Alert Network or SCAN.

But as of Monday May 3 they'll use the Alberta Emergency Alert system.

"Alberta Emergency Alert has had advancements in their technology over the last number of years that provide other outlets to let people know when an emergency is happening and that's primarily though their app that everybody can download on to their cell phones to get those alerts," she explained.

After the 2013 flood High River had its own alert as did the Foothills MD at the time working with a U.S. company called Everbridge.

About a year and a half later other municipalities saw what was happening and climbed on board and that's when SCAN was born with Foothills, High River, Okotoks, Turner Valley, Black Diamond, Longview, Vulcan and Vulcan County and the MD of Willow Creek joined.

Roblin says Foothills County is one of the last municipalities still using SCAN.

"I think what everybody saw is with Alberta Emergency Alert technology changing and the way the app works and how easy it is and how portable and mobile it is that it was really a duplication and there's a cost to using Everbridge and we're probably reaching more people through AEA," she says.

She says that portability makes a big difference.

"There's a setting on there that you can have the AEA app follow you anywhere in Alberta so if you drive up to Edmonton and you've got that setting on your AEA and there's alert there you'll get those as well."

Users can also set the app top provide alerts about parts of the province, other than where they live.

"So let's say you've got a family member who fives in Red Deer you can choose on the app to get alerts from Red Deer so if something happens there and maybe you have kids going to school or you have elderly parents there you'll also get a heads up that something is happening in that area." Roblin says.

High River is planning a siren test for May 4th to coincide with its move the the Alberta Emergency Alert system.