Pollyana

NZ mobile emergency alert system coming

Emergency alerts to mobile phones across New Zealand will be operational by the end of the year, Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

The alerts, which will appear similar to a text message without the need for a separate app or subscription, will be sent free to phones in affected areas in an emergency.

"Discussions with New Zealand's major telecommunications companies are progressing well and we expect to have contracts signed in the coming weeks," Brownlee announced on Tuesday.

"Once the cell broadcasting alerting system is up and running, an alert will be sent out to mobile phones through the cell towers in the affected areas in the event of an emergency."

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Works very well in Australia; unlike existing local systems there's no need to subscribe, its just automatically sent to all phones, no matter who the provider is.

This is the page with more info on the Australian system, for anyone interested. Sounds like the New Zealand one will be much the same.

xizzles

Oh, they've finally joined the rest of the developed world! Japan and South Korea have had these for years!

Pollyana

We've been using EA here for several years now, and have seen it progress in several ways - for instance now being able to send messages to mobiles based on their location. When the system first went live it could only send based on the billing address. Sending by location means it includes tourists, even those with overseas providers and no local sim card.

xizzles

Yup. That's the same system in Japan and South Korea. Pretty scary actually, to see a message pop up in your non-roaming enabled smartphone! Maybe they CAN track you everywhere and anywhere after all!

Pollyana

No, the operators don't work for the phone companies, they work for the emergency services, and only know how many phones they are reaching, they have no idea who the phones belong to - or even how many phones are on each network. Its just one number of 'mobiles reached' which we get when we press that button to send the message. All the data about the networks and the owner of the phone are held by the phone companies and are never released.

The scary bit is pressing the button and thinking how many people's lives are affected by that one action.

Stuck in Auckland

Will it be a sequence of messages or based on information to hand?

Be Advised

RUN

Your F##D

xizzles

Well, when She Who Must Be Obeyed and I were in Jeju some time ago, there was a really severe cold snap, and we received a pop up message to that effect - it was in Korean, mind you, and we needed the help of the hotel concierge to decipher it

Pollyana

Its generally one message - the Australian system only allows 160 characters, like the old basic text message. We mainly use it for floods, and will send something like

QXXX Advise: Delta River likely to reach major flood level by 10pm. Leave now for higher ground. Further information Alpha Council 5556 7857 or ABC Local Radio

or for cyclones we might send a series of messages over 2 or 3 days, as it gets closer.

TC Bernard likely to impact Cairns from 9pm. Prepare your home and take shelter. Cyclone Shelters are open. Listen to ABC Radio. More info Council 5556 7857

Can also be used for bushfires and for tsunami - both of which have impacted NZ recently.

A phone call is also made to landlines in the warning area, with a recorded message saying much the same thing.

Based on info to hand at the time, plus a map of the affected area which we plot into the system. The messages then go to everyone within the map area. Many councils draw maps in advance - for instance for floods and tsunamis - based on river and land heights, so if a message is needed the map is already and waiting and it just needs a couple of mouse clicks to put it in place.

MrsFychan

sounds good as most people comments are the lack of local information before the event.

Charismatic

If it's after 10pm or before 7am civil emergencies will have to wait patiently like everyone else as my mobile telephone will be off. I'm willing to take the risk of waking up dead.

hedgewizard

If you've an android phone I recommend an app called Sleep Peacefully which turns sound and vibes off on your phone during the night. If anybody tries to get hold of you it advises them you're asleep but they can remotely deactivate the app by texting you the word URGENT, and then phone you again. It's a brilliant way to stop apps like FB and Instagram alerting you to UK friends' cat pictures at 2am, without having to turn notifications off.

Pollyana

Emergency Alert doesn't work like that, its one broadcast message, often to thousands of people at once. Simply not practical to send out one first saying 'urgent' for the handful of people with the app.

hedgewizard

Ohhh yeah... I'd still wake up dead then!

Pollyana