Tomorrow (Tuesday, June 8th) is the deadline for signing up for a FEMA/FCC-sponsored workshop on the myriad of things working toward a more modern national alerting system. They'll talk about the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), the coming national cell alerting program, a new digitized Emergency Alert System (EAS), and of course, the ever-popular Common Alerting Protocol (CAP).
Emergency managers and other public safety officials should be interested. The workshop will be held in DC Thursday, June 10th. (You can register at here.) If you can't be there, you can listen in by going to another FCC web site. (No registration necessary for just listening.) Or, you can learn more about the workshop, and the initiative as a whole, through a blog post by Lisa Fowlkes, Deputy Bureau Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC.
A couple of panel sessions will be held:
- The Path to Next Generation Alerting
- Leveraging Broadband to Truly Effect Public Alerting and Warning
Both, rather interesting topics.
There's a lot going on in the arena of notifications and alerts, perhaps more than many people realize. This would be a good way to help get up to speed.
All the best,
Rick
Monday, June 7, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
A Check Point for Our 2010 Top 10 Predictions
We continue to be amazed (and pleased) with the response to our first-of-the-year post where we made 10 predictions for alerts and notifications for 2010. The post continues to be viewed often. So, as we approach the mid-year point, we thought we ought to check ourselves to see how we're doing. So far, pretty good...although we probably need to keep our day jobs and not become fortune tellers (or stock traders). Here's our report card:
1. "Move from proprietary, stand-alone systems to highly-integrated systems." The concept is catching on. More people embrace it. A good example is the City of Philadelphia recently winning an award for their integrated notification solution. The award was The Emergency Management Digital Distinction Award given by Center for Digital Government and Emergency Management magazine.
2. "Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) will continue to take hold." We wouldn't say CAP has taken hold yet, but certainly awareness is growing. Anticipated approval soon by FEMA of CAP version 1.2 will help, as well as first of tests conducted by the new laboratory stood up to test vendor products for compliance. (See our post, "Common Alerting Protocol Seal of Approval".)
3. "IPAWS will become more visible." If emergency management and public safety officials don't know about FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, it's not because IPAWS isn't trying. IPAWS representatives are showing up regularly at trade shows and other events to explain their vision and plans for an enhanced national alerting system.
4. "New industry leaders will begin to emerge." No real evidence to support this prediction. However, while helping a state agency build a short list of potential notification vendors, we were impressed with some of the demos we saw - including from a couple of companies we didn't know before. We'd still, however, like to see more impressive new concepts announced by industry.
5. "A highly-visible failure will occur." We're glad we haven't been right about this one...so far. Unfortunately, we're confident this prediction will come true...sooner or later.
6. "Growth in the use of social media for alerts and warnings." Since the first of the year, we've seen a number of communities announce plans to start posting emergency information on social media.
7. "Further commoditization of notifications including 'free services'". At least we figured out what makes one of the more visible of the "free services" tick. Well, perhaps we didn't figure it out. They told us. See our post, "Solving the Mystery of Nixle".
8. "More procurements for independent help." We've seen a few. For example, one capital city county we're aware of has notified a consulting company that they've been awarded a contract to analyze the county's mix of notification systems and make recommendations. (Full disclosure: our company, Galain, is a sub-contractor on the project.) Others are brewing.
9. "More patent lawsuits." We may have been wrong on this one. As far as we know, none has been filed beyond ones we reported on last year.
10. "Other large-scale systems announced." With funds so tight, few new initiatives have been announced. But, we know first-hand of several initiatives developing in large cities and states.
So, we'll give ourselves a B, maybe B-, for our mid-year report card. If we've been too kind in our self-evaluation, let us know.
By the way, this represents our 100th post for Emergency Management magazine. We're most appreciative of this opportunity. We're also pleased that this forum has helped our understanding of what's going on. In addition to making us stop and think for a few minutes here and there, we're given good feedback from the people who follow the blog. We thank you!
All the best,
Rick
1. "Move from proprietary, stand-alone systems to highly-integrated systems." The concept is catching on. More people embrace it. A good example is the City of Philadelphia recently winning an award for their integrated notification solution. The award was The Emergency Management Digital Distinction Award given by Center for Digital Government and Emergency Management magazine.
2. "Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) will continue to take hold." We wouldn't say CAP has taken hold yet, but certainly awareness is growing. Anticipated approval soon by FEMA of CAP version 1.2 will help, as well as first of tests conducted by the new laboratory stood up to test vendor products for compliance. (See our post, "Common Alerting Protocol Seal of Approval".)
3. "IPAWS will become more visible." If emergency management and public safety officials don't know about FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, it's not because IPAWS isn't trying. IPAWS representatives are showing up regularly at trade shows and other events to explain their vision and plans for an enhanced national alerting system.
4. "New industry leaders will begin to emerge." No real evidence to support this prediction. However, while helping a state agency build a short list of potential notification vendors, we were impressed with some of the demos we saw - including from a couple of companies we didn't know before. We'd still, however, like to see more impressive new concepts announced by industry.
5. "A highly-visible failure will occur." We're glad we haven't been right about this one...so far. Unfortunately, we're confident this prediction will come true...sooner or later.
6. "Growth in the use of social media for alerts and warnings." Since the first of the year, we've seen a number of communities announce plans to start posting emergency information on social media.
7. "Further commoditization of notifications including 'free services'". At least we figured out what makes one of the more visible of the "free services" tick. Well, perhaps we didn't figure it out. They told us. See our post, "Solving the Mystery of Nixle".
8. "More procurements for independent help." We've seen a few. For example, one capital city county we're aware of has notified a consulting company that they've been awarded a contract to analyze the county's mix of notification systems and make recommendations. (Full disclosure: our company, Galain, is a sub-contractor on the project.) Others are brewing.
9. "More patent lawsuits." We may have been wrong on this one. As far as we know, none has been filed beyond ones we reported on last year.
10. "Other large-scale systems announced." With funds so tight, few new initiatives have been announced. But, we know first-hand of several initiatives developing in large cities and states.
So, we'll give ourselves a B, maybe B-, for our mid-year report card. If we've been too kind in our self-evaluation, let us know.
By the way, this represents our 100th post for Emergency Management magazine. We're most appreciative of this opportunity. We're also pleased that this forum has helped our understanding of what's going on. In addition to making us stop and think for a few minutes here and there, we're given good feedback from the people who follow the blog. We thank you!
All the best,
Rick
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Accurate GIS Data for Emergency Notifications
In the next few years, it's highly likely that local emergency managers and other public safety officials will be able to activate a cell broadcast that will deliver emergency notifications to many cell phones in the area. The new capability will come through the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) being developed by FEMA, the FCC, and cell carriers. (See our recent posts here and here.) Projected launch: 2012.
Meantime, successful telephone alerts and notifications are reliant upon collecting good telephone data...emphasis on the "good". There's a wide range of collection efforts beginning with simply buying a "phone book" database to a "managed" approach. The best managed approaches we've seen involve "9-1-1" data supplemented by phone book data supplemented by citizen registrations supplemented by a process that regularly updates data from multiple sources.
A new white paper from InfoCode shows a significant disparity between the phone book data and, well, reality...not only through missing numbers, but in accuracy of info used to associate numbers with proper points on a map. The company conducted a sampling of several areas, and found phone book numbers were plotted 3, even 5, miles from their real location. (Not good in an emergency.) This occurred in 10% of their samples. Then, of course, there's a significant number of numbers that don't show up in the phone books...even before you take into consideration cell numbers that don't show up anywhere. The InfoCode white paper can be found here. (In the interest of full disclosure, we advised InfoCode on the paper.)
There are many telephone notification systems across the country that use phone book data only, and no doubt, this is better than nothing. But, as the public expects more information faster, phone book data alone just won't cut it anymore. There are certainly steps that can be taken to get much better notification data. Most importantly, it takes an organization willing to make the investment of resources to do it right.
It's kind of like Lorin's recent post on public outreach (Doing it Right: Engaging Citizens in a Notification Program), and our repeated posts on a systems-of-systems approach. This is not simple stuff. Being prepared to notify and alert the public is no small undertaking, and getting more complex every day. Let's understand the complexities, educate the people with the purse-strings, and address the complexities head on.
All the best,
Rick
Meantime, successful telephone alerts and notifications are reliant upon collecting good telephone data...emphasis on the "good". There's a wide range of collection efforts beginning with simply buying a "phone book" database to a "managed" approach. The best managed approaches we've seen involve "9-1-1" data supplemented by phone book data supplemented by citizen registrations supplemented by a process that regularly updates data from multiple sources.
A new white paper from InfoCode shows a significant disparity between the phone book data and, well, reality...not only through missing numbers, but in accuracy of info used to associate numbers with proper points on a map. The company conducted a sampling of several areas, and found phone book numbers were plotted 3, even 5, miles from their real location. (Not good in an emergency.) This occurred in 10% of their samples. Then, of course, there's a significant number of numbers that don't show up in the phone books...even before you take into consideration cell numbers that don't show up anywhere. The InfoCode white paper can be found here. (In the interest of full disclosure, we advised InfoCode on the paper.)
There are many telephone notification systems across the country that use phone book data only, and no doubt, this is better than nothing. But, as the public expects more information faster, phone book data alone just won't cut it anymore. There are certainly steps that can be taken to get much better notification data. Most importantly, it takes an organization willing to make the investment of resources to do it right.
It's kind of like Lorin's recent post on public outreach (Doing it Right: Engaging Citizens in a Notification Program), and our repeated posts on a systems-of-systems approach. This is not simple stuff. Being prepared to notify and alert the public is no small undertaking, and getting more complex every day. Let's understand the complexities, educate the people with the purse-strings, and address the complexities head on.
All the best,
Rick
Friday, May 28, 2010
The Challenge of Multi-lingual Alerts and Warnings
Rare is the community in the US these days that doesn't have residents who either don't speak English, or speak it poorly. Emergency managers and other public safety officials struggle with making sure critical messages are understood by all, including people with disabilities. Many notification systems don't have ability to deliver messages in multiple languages or in ways to accommodate special needs and, if they do, use is often awkward.
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is challenged in the same way. Most EAS messages, like those monthly tests heard on almost all radio and TV stations, are broadcast only in English.
The National Association of Broadcasters recently asked the FCC to "refrain from adopting mandatory requirements on the format or content of EAS messages". Instead, the NAB said "voluntary programs created by state and local officials, broadcasters and other interested parties are the preferred and practical approach". The NAB was referring to a project in Florida where EAS messages from the state level are delivered in multiple languages. At this point, messages from the federal level orginiate in English only. It would be impractical, says the NAB, for a mechanism to be placed into action that would require translation of EAS messages down the chain from originator (say, the President).
Delivering emergency messages so that all can understand is not a new problem, but it's one that's likely getting worse as US populations grow of non-English speaking and people with disabilities. We're not sure of the exact answer, but suspect it lies somewhere in that system-of-systems approach we keep harping on. Perhaps EAS remains an English-only system, or is multi-lingual when locals work together to make it so. Fine, as long as other systems come into the mainstream that fill the notification gaps.
All the best,
Rick
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is challenged in the same way. Most EAS messages, like those monthly tests heard on almost all radio and TV stations, are broadcast only in English.
The National Association of Broadcasters recently asked the FCC to "refrain from adopting mandatory requirements on the format or content of EAS messages". Instead, the NAB said "voluntary programs created by state and local officials, broadcasters and other interested parties are the preferred and practical approach". The NAB was referring to a project in Florida where EAS messages from the state level are delivered in multiple languages. At this point, messages from the federal level orginiate in English only. It would be impractical, says the NAB, for a mechanism to be placed into action that would require translation of EAS messages down the chain from originator (say, the President).
Delivering emergency messages so that all can understand is not a new problem, but it's one that's likely getting worse as US populations grow of non-English speaking and people with disabilities. We're not sure of the exact answer, but suspect it lies somewhere in that system-of-systems approach we keep harping on. Perhaps EAS remains an English-only system, or is multi-lingual when locals work together to make it so. Fine, as long as other systems come into the mainstream that fill the notification gaps.
All the best,
Rick
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Perfect Storm
Some people have been saying the recent Tennessee floods were result of "the perfect storm". Many things lined up to make this a particularly troublesome flood. We live just south of Nashville and, while our home was spared, over 100 families in our neighborhood weren't so lucky. (If consulting and blogging don't work out, I now have a fall-back career of removing duct work from crawl spaces.)
It's been gut-wrenching to see the damage, and to hear that stories from our neighborhood are not isolated. However, many of the stories people are talking about are positive. For the most part, middle Tennessee rallied. Emergency response efforts were strong. Volunteerism made the state truly worthy of its moniker of "The Volunteer State". And, believe it our not, many people are talking about how responsive FEMA has been. FEMA housing inspectors were out in force quickly. Relief checks arrived much faster than expected. The FEMA buzz is positive. In fact, most of the buzz is positive...despite the damage and hardships.
As proud as we Tennesseans are of our response to the floods, we had a lot of luck working for us. For example, it's somewhat of a fluke that few of us lost power for any significant amount of time. Our house on a hill was one of a few in the neighborhood to lose power. It's an eerie sight to see homes down the street, evacuated, with several feet of water in them and all of the lights on.
Because power outages were not widespread, we were able to watch local TV. Our local TV stations did a good job keeping us informed, even though they were having trouble getting from place-to-place because of flooded roads. For the most part, cable service was uninterrupted, no small feat since the local cable company's main facility was right in the path of the flood. Were it not for sandbags and a determined cable company, we could have easily experienced widespread cable outages.
Not so important for us to keep our HBO and cooking channels in service during an emergency, you may think. Well, think again. How many people receive their local TV stations through the cable, and don't know how to pick them up through the airwaves when cable is out...particularly since digital TV has come? And, what if the peak of the floods happened after we were asleep, instead of during the Kentucky Derby when so many of us were watching TV? What would have awakened us and told us our homes were about to be flooded so we could try to move belongings to the second floor before we were ordered to evacuate?
So, one of the things that concerns me is that we have potential to be lulled into complacency by our pride in our response. This was one heckuva flood, many would say the worst disaster to hit the area...ever. But, we're strutting our stuff about how well we're doing. Next time, though, we could easily lose access to TV, our mainstay of information. Instead of rallying, we could easily feel isolation and helplessness that others in similar situations have felt.
Don't get me wrong. We're a hardy and resourceful lot in middle Tennessee. We've made this our home for over 25 years by design. We love it here. But, in this particular disaster, we've also been a lucky lot. I hope we'll shore up our emergency alerting and communications capabilities so next time something major happens, we'll again be able to strut our stuff about how well we've responded.
All the best,
Rick
It's been gut-wrenching to see the damage, and to hear that stories from our neighborhood are not isolated. However, many of the stories people are talking about are positive. For the most part, middle Tennessee rallied. Emergency response efforts were strong. Volunteerism made the state truly worthy of its moniker of "The Volunteer State". And, believe it our not, many people are talking about how responsive FEMA has been. FEMA housing inspectors were out in force quickly. Relief checks arrived much faster than expected. The FEMA buzz is positive. In fact, most of the buzz is positive...despite the damage and hardships.
As proud as we Tennesseans are of our response to the floods, we had a lot of luck working for us. For example, it's somewhat of a fluke that few of us lost power for any significant amount of time. Our house on a hill was one of a few in the neighborhood to lose power. It's an eerie sight to see homes down the street, evacuated, with several feet of water in them and all of the lights on.
Because power outages were not widespread, we were able to watch local TV. Our local TV stations did a good job keeping us informed, even though they were having trouble getting from place-to-place because of flooded roads. For the most part, cable service was uninterrupted, no small feat since the local cable company's main facility was right in the path of the flood. Were it not for sandbags and a determined cable company, we could have easily experienced widespread cable outages.
Not so important for us to keep our HBO and cooking channels in service during an emergency, you may think. Well, think again. How many people receive their local TV stations through the cable, and don't know how to pick them up through the airwaves when cable is out...particularly since digital TV has come? And, what if the peak of the floods happened after we were asleep, instead of during the Kentucky Derby when so many of us were watching TV? What would have awakened us and told us our homes were about to be flooded so we could try to move belongings to the second floor before we were ordered to evacuate?
So, one of the things that concerns me is that we have potential to be lulled into complacency by our pride in our response. This was one heckuva flood, many would say the worst disaster to hit the area...ever. But, we're strutting our stuff about how well we're doing. Next time, though, we could easily lose access to TV, our mainstay of information. Instead of rallying, we could easily feel isolation and helplessness that others in similar situations have felt.
Don't get me wrong. We're a hardy and resourceful lot in middle Tennessee. We've made this our home for over 25 years by design. We love it here. But, in this particular disaster, we've also been a lucky lot. I hope we'll shore up our emergency alerting and communications capabilities so next time something major happens, we'll again be able to strut our stuff about how well we've responded.
All the best,
Rick
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Doing it Right: Engaging Citizens in a Notification Program
For ENS managers across the country, one of the biggest challenges is convincing local citizens to actively engage in the alerts and warnings program. In many cases, the notification data itself is dependent on citizen input making stimulating awareness (and action) even more important.
AlertSCC: A Great Example
One of the best examples we've seen of a local government promoting its notification program is in Santa Clara County, California. It is currently implementing a comprehensive marketing plan to educate citizens on its "AlertSCC" program. The ultimate goal is to encourage the public to register for notifications through its online portal.
The county is deploying local television, radio, and print ads to spread the word. Produced by Oakland, CA-based communications firm CirclePoint, these ads are not your typical boring PSAs, but are instead produced with humor and creativity to attract and motivate audiences. The campaign shuns a direct "fear-based" approach, instead tapping into personal relationships and everyday people with a slogan of "I love you, please sign up" according to Eddie Kurtz of CirclePoint.
In addition, the County is working on a soon-to-be-released viral campaign--a portal that allows individuals to upload their own pictures into these ads and send to friends and family. They are also managing a Facebook page with informational updates and links to these ads. Other methods are being deployed as well, including outreach efforts to specific community organizations within the county.
See the ads here on the AlertSCC Facebook page.
Funding for AlertSCC Campaign
Funding for this extensive campaign came from two sources according to Gwen Mitchell, Director of the Office of Public Affairs in Santa Clara county. The City of San Jose received a UASI grant for $250,000 that was applied to the effort, and the County matched this amount from its operating budget (total of $500,000).
Advice to ENS Managers
What advice would Gwen give to emergency managers regarding public outreach efforts?
First, don't ask them to do too much. "One thing our research showed, is even though people know it is important to take steps to prepare, they don’t do it. I think it is important they be given messages with which they can take immediate action. For instance, signing up for this only takes a few minutes. It’s a step they can take right now. I think that kind of messaging is effective, not a list of 20 things."
Second,use frequent, multiple means of getting the message out. "Communicate often, especially if they are in areas where there is potential for disaster."
Third, center the message on the audience and don't be afraid of creativity. "Target populations where they may not be able to receive the message through mainstream media. You have to be creative and really think about this issue in very broad ways to reach as many people as possible."
It is too early in the campaign to tell whether the time and resources applied here will generate the results Santa Clara County desires. However, we applaud the effort to pair investments in notification technology with investments in community education. The outcome is likely to be a safer more informed community.
All the best,
Lorin
AlertSCC: A Great Example
One of the best examples we've seen of a local government promoting its notification program is in Santa Clara County, California. It is currently implementing a comprehensive marketing plan to educate citizens on its "AlertSCC" program. The ultimate goal is to encourage the public to register for notifications through its online portal.
The county is deploying local television, radio, and print ads to spread the word. Produced by Oakland, CA-based communications firm CirclePoint, these ads are not your typical boring PSAs, but are instead produced with humor and creativity to attract and motivate audiences. The campaign shuns a direct "fear-based" approach, instead tapping into personal relationships and everyday people with a slogan of "I love you, please sign up" according to Eddie Kurtz of CirclePoint.
In addition, the County is working on a soon-to-be-released viral campaign--a portal that allows individuals to upload their own pictures into these ads and send to friends and family. They are also managing a Facebook page with informational updates and links to these ads. Other methods are being deployed as well, including outreach efforts to specific community organizations within the county.
See the ads here on the AlertSCC Facebook page.
Funding for AlertSCC Campaign
Funding for this extensive campaign came from two sources according to Gwen Mitchell, Director of the Office of Public Affairs in Santa Clara county. The City of San Jose received a UASI grant for $250,000 that was applied to the effort, and the County matched this amount from its operating budget (total of $500,000).
Advice to ENS Managers
What advice would Gwen give to emergency managers regarding public outreach efforts?
First, don't ask them to do too much. "One thing our research showed, is even though people know it is important to take steps to prepare, they don’t do it. I think it is important they be given messages with which they can take immediate action. For instance, signing up for this only takes a few minutes. It’s a step they can take right now. I think that kind of messaging is effective, not a list of 20 things."
Second,use frequent, multiple means of getting the message out. "Communicate often, especially if they are in areas where there is potential for disaster."
Third, center the message on the audience and don't be afraid of creativity. "Target populations where they may not be able to receive the message through mainstream media. You have to be creative and really think about this issue in very broad ways to reach as many people as possible."
It is too early in the campaign to tell whether the time and resources applied here will generate the results Santa Clara County desires. However, we applaud the effort to pair investments in notification technology with investments in community education. The outcome is likely to be a safer more informed community.
All the best,
Lorin
Monday, May 24, 2010
Should Local Emergency Managers be Allowed to Activate EAS?
Not a new debate is the one over exactly who should be able to activate the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Hardly anyone disagrees that the President of the United States should be able to activate EAS (although none ever has). And, most agree that governors should be able to execute EAS alerts. But, what about the local level?
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), for one, is not keen on the idea of local emergency managers having ability to, in effect, take over the airwaves to make an announcement. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission last week, NAB reiterated its position that emergency messages (other than those from the President) should come only from a gubernatorial designate and only under certain conditions. The NAB said, "multiple sources of alerts may lead to audience confusion or desensitization to emergency alerts". This presents a dilemma, since some people argue that emergency alerting is a local responsibility, not a state one, not a federal one.
In the same filing with the FCC, the NAB asked again for the commission to limit cable TV overrides for EAS alerts - those non-graphic, text-only messages that pop up on cable telvision. Broadcasters complain that these alerts override local programming at a point where local stations may already be providing important information about the emergency at hand. Instead, says the NAB, cable companies should be forced to "selectively" override. In others words, interrupt the channels that don't carry broadcast TV. In some markets, "selective override" is negotiated, with the FCC's blessings, between local broadcast and cable operators.
There's more. The NAB also expressed concern about talk about requiring that EAS messages be in multiple languages. But, more on that later this week.
In this post, we're just touching the surface. There are many legitimate considerations and debates going on about how to best notify the public through EAS. We just hope that local emergency managers, broadcasters, and other "communities of interest" are paying close attention. And, by all means, speak up (like the NAB did in its filings with the FCC). We believe the debate, even controversy, is born out of a real desire to make ours a better informed and prepared nation.
All the best,
Rick
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), for one, is not keen on the idea of local emergency managers having ability to, in effect, take over the airwaves to make an announcement. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission last week, NAB reiterated its position that emergency messages (other than those from the President) should come only from a gubernatorial designate and only under certain conditions. The NAB said, "multiple sources of alerts may lead to audience confusion or desensitization to emergency alerts". This presents a dilemma, since some people argue that emergency alerting is a local responsibility, not a state one, not a federal one.
In the same filing with the FCC, the NAB asked again for the commission to limit cable TV overrides for EAS alerts - those non-graphic, text-only messages that pop up on cable telvision. Broadcasters complain that these alerts override local programming at a point where local stations may already be providing important information about the emergency at hand. Instead, says the NAB, cable companies should be forced to "selectively" override. In others words, interrupt the channels that don't carry broadcast TV. In some markets, "selective override" is negotiated, with the FCC's blessings, between local broadcast and cable operators.
There's more. The NAB also expressed concern about talk about requiring that EAS messages be in multiple languages. But, more on that later this week.
In this post, we're just touching the surface. There are many legitimate considerations and debates going on about how to best notify the public through EAS. We just hope that local emergency managers, broadcasters, and other "communities of interest" are paying close attention. And, by all means, speak up (like the NAB did in its filings with the FCC). We believe the debate, even controversy, is born out of a real desire to make ours a better informed and prepared nation.
All the best,
Rick
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