Some of you may have heard that the FCC is working with cell phone companies to send automatic text messages to all customers in the event of certain emergencies. This is true. In2006, Congress passed the WARN Act - Warning, Alert and Response Network. As a result, the FCC established rules and policies to allow wireless service providers to participate in this network and agree to send emergency alerts to their customers. However, according to the FCC's Consumer Facts statement on the new commercial mobile alert system (CMAS), the actual date that this network will be up and running is probably 1 - 2 years away.
When the system is actually operational it will be used to send the following alerts:
- Presidential Alerts – Alerts for all Americans related to national emergencies, such as terrorist attacks, that will preempt any other pending alerts;
- Imminent Threat Alerts – Alerts with information on emergencies, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, where life or property is at risk, the event is likely to occur, and some responsive action should be taken; and
- Child Abduction Emergency/AMBER Alerts – Alerts related to missing or endangered children due to an abduction or runaway situation.
Communications Made Easy already has all of this capability and more! Local governments can already use our system to warn or weather-related emergencies, terrorist attacks, public safety issues, and AMBER alerts. Plus, CME sends out voice messages and allows text messages up to 500 characters, whereas the the CMAS won't immediately have the capability to send voice messages, and it will only send text messages up to 90 characters.
So if you think you'd rather wait until the federal government gets this network established, you'll be waiting a while and you'll be missing out on some essential warning features. Use CME to send out all of your emergency broadcast messages now and you'll be a few steps ahead when the CMAS is ready for deployment.
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