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April 10, 2012 By Sarah Rich
After much anticipation, the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) went live last weekend, a first-of-its-kind national alert system in the U.S. that allows the public to receive major emergency alert notifications on their mobile phones without having to sign up or pay for them.
CMAS is the interface to the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) service that wireless phone carriers will roll out in the U.S. this year. The system was developed through a partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the FCC and wireless phone carriers to increase public safety nationwide, according to FEMA.
Through the CMAS system, authorized public safety authorities will be able to use FEMA’s Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN) to send geographically specific emergency alert notifications similar to text messages to the public.
Alerts can be a maximum of 90 characters, and in most cases, will only contain basic information such as the type of emergency, when the alert will expire and a recommended course of action. Cellphone carriers will sell mobile phones with the capability to receive CMAS notifications, said Rick Wimberly, president of Galain Solutions Inc., and blogger for Emergency Management magazine, Government Technology’s sister publication. Carriers like AT&T have already provided a list of models that can receive CMAS notifications.
Individuals will not be charged to receive the messages, and alerting authorities will not pay wireless phone carriers for sending out the notifications, according to FEMA. The alerts will be sent to mobile phones via broadcast technology to avoid the delay that typically happens during an emergency when wireless voice and data services are “highly congested.”
Three types of messages will be sent to mobile phones: imminent threats, Amber alerts and presidential messages, but according to FEMA, most alerts will be issued by the National Weather Service.
Imminent threats include tornado, tsunami, hurricane, flood and other types of severe weather warnings, all of which will come from the National Weather Service, Wimberly said. For other imminent threats — hazardous materials incidents, for example — alerts may be issued by state and local officials, who must complete a four-step authorization process.
Wimberly said that for officials to get permission to send out the alerts, they must:
1. Identify to FEMA what solution (software) their agency will use to send out the alerts;
2. Apply for a memorandum of agreement with FEMA;
3. Once FEMA gives permission to use the solution, the application will go back to the state where the agency is located. From there, the state will review the application and decide whether that local alerting authority is of a legitimate public safety agency, then the state makes the final decision for approval; and
4. The individuals who will actually be activating the approved solution will then go through a training session.
Almost 20 agencies have received approval from FEMA to send out CMAS alerts, including the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. As of Tuesday, April 10, another 16 agencies were waiting for approval, according to FEMA. The full list can be seen on the agency’s website.
Besides winning FEMA approval, government agencies will need to prepare the public before they start sending CMAS messages, Wimberly said. Because citizens don’t need to opt in, they may have concerns when they begin receiving the alerts.
“The public will be really pleased with this service, however, it’s also my opinion that there will be a certain amount of misunderstanding and there will be questions that will come up by the public,” Wimberly said.
It’ll be important for state and local agencies to educate the public about the new system to keep concerns or problems to a minimum, he said. For instance, some individuals may want to call 911 when they receive an alert — something they obviously should avoid.
Because the alerts will be brief, they may not provide all the information that citizens need about an emergency situation. The alerts will, however, let citizens know that there is a major situation occurring and that they need to pay attention.
“The biggest thing that needs to be worked out is the educational piece of it,” he said.
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If the alerts "may not provide all the information that citizens need about an emergency situation" then what is their objective? General panic? I am surprised that users can opt out of both imminent threat and amber alerts (see http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB409413#fbid=Ga4ZWrtv6Hb). Does the delivery of "presidential messages" alone, to the small percentage who have compatible phones, merit the gigantic expense?
This is interesting. I think it is going to cause a lot of issues the first couple of times it goes off. 90% of people have no idea this exists and are going to panic. Phones should have a warning the first time they are turned on warning the user about the potential for messages. That makes the most sense to me to spread the word. I also think that where this is heading a few companies who charge for this type of thing better watch out....
It is a great idea although like you have said Joe, I think there is going to be a lot of confusion relating to this. It would be good to see an example of what information the 90 character message provides. It sounds like it should be worked with a wide spread marketing campaign to get the word out otherwise calls to 911 are going to go crazy the first time it goes off with panicking people.
What is a "Presidential message"?
Is there a way to OPT-OUT of these alerts? Glad they automatically think everyone wants these.
A comment from the I.T. Director in Woodward, OK who posted on LinkedIn after I posted this article: "This technology saved lives in Woodward on Sunday morning April 15th at approximately 12:10 a.m." Our local press has reported that the tornado siren tower was hit either by lightning or the tornado and therefore sirens did not sound. This technology may prove to be as important as the sirens.
Looking at the vendors who have chosen to only implement "partially" - it looks like they're only adding the capability to their high-end phones which means that an alert would be just like the evacuation of New Orleans - only the well-heeled will get the alerts.
I think this is a great idea, however who will bare the cost to educate the community?
It's a carry-over from the Cold War, when the Emergency Broadcast System was originally designed, to allow the president to make an emergency address to the public over all broadcast media.
To say that people didn't get the warning for Katrina is absurd. The problem was people who ignored the warning or were unable to evacuate.
New technology invokes a period of adaptation. even those who fully understand this system cannot predict the complete range of response from end users. once the launch is absorbed I believe the costs vs. benefit is justified. Some may never want services like this or care to understand it. One of the greatest challenges is not simply having a notified public, but rather having a public who is informed & then capable of making autonomous ascertations of risk exposure and appropriate response. The goal shouldn't be complete saturation, but rather have some sectors over-saturated in order to spill over into those hard to reach places.
Jennifer, Well said!
I don't think the 90-character limit should be such an issue. I subscribe to my County's text-message alert, and they are short, but very helpful. I've packed my kids up from the playground due to both severe lightning and tornado warnings (and let all the other moms know as well.) I know I can get home and get more info, but at least it's enough to know to get to safety. It is a shame they can't go to most current phones, however; I agree with the poster who said this will be a case of haves/have-nots.... However, maybe the localities that currently forward the NWS alerts (as mine does) will forward the CMAS alerts as well? They would reach a much larger population that way.
Wish we had this in the Fort Worth & Dallas area in Texas. AT&T is who I have my I-Phone with. No go yet!
James, why in any version of reality would you *not* want these? I don't know about you, but I'm not impervious to disasters and emergencies, nor are my wife or daughter. If there's something dangerous/important enough for them to text message me, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT.
Go camping/vacationing for a week or more where cell and radio coverage is minimal. Or an unplanned, non-weather related week-long power failure. Now what?
my girlfriend is pregnant and i think my uncle may be the father i dont kno what to do, i want to die please help 7135173643
You might want to try the Houston Crisis Hotline at (713) 468-5463.
I have had my phone go off with an alert on 2 different storms and locations. the first time was in Alexandria, VA just before the real heavy winds and rain hit the area. The second time was while i was on vacation north of New Orleans. had a real bad band of storms go through that turned into a tornado about 20 miles to the northeast of where I was. At least you get some warning over your phone if your not near a functional TV that is tuned to your local stations. If your watching one of the non local stations, you may or may not get the warning.