Public Warning Systems - counterterrorbusiness.com

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WHITE PAPER: PUBLIC WARNING SYSTEMS | REACHING PEOPLE WHEN IT MATTERS THE MOST

Public Warning Systems REACHING PEOPLE WHEN IT MATTERS THE MOSTMulti-Channel Population Alerting A guide to optimizing the technology solutions for effective population alerting and meeting the requirements of EU Directive Article 110

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In an emergency, public warning systems provide a crucial way of conveying important and potentially life-saving information to members of the public. Whether it’s a terrorist attack, severe weather or a natural disaster, public authorities need to be able to quickly communicate the danger to those in an affected area and advise them of the appropriate action to take:

+ Deliver an alert to warn the people affected of the location and nature of the emergency

+ Tell them what action they need to take in response to the emergency + Provide critical updates, for example the threat has changed direction + Advise when the incident is over to inform people that they can

return to normality

But public warnings should not be one-off actions. An effective public warning system will be capable of providing these communications throughout the lifecycle of a major incident. The nature of events will vary covering a period of hours, days, weeks or even months. It should also be capable of communicating with all stakeholders to coordinate an effective response:

+ Who can help? + Who is affected?

+ Who needs to know?

Our populations are becoming increasingly diverse, highly mobile and reliant on technology to communicate. It’s no longer possible to rely on traditional forms of communications in times of emergency:

+ Television and radio – not everyone will be watching/listening when an emergency arises

+ Social media – excludes those unable to access or use such communication tools

+ Public warning apps – people must download and install on their device

To address this and in response to a series of major emergency incidents across Europe – including forest fires in Greece and Portugal and terror attacks in Paris, London, Manchester and Barcelona – the European Parliament has passed new legislation1 for public warning which comes into effect in June 2022.

KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE IN EMERGENCIES“We want a Europe that puts safety first and the new legislation is an important step in that direction. Modern public warning will provide people with the right information at the right time, leading to less victims and more lives saved.”

Levent Altan, Executive

Director, Victim Support Europe

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Published in December 2018, Article 110 of the European Electronic Communication Code (EECC) mandates that by June 2022 every EU Member State must implement (if it has not done so already) a public warning system that uses the mobile phone networks to reach people affected by major emergencies and disasters. The Code covers several aspects of electronic communications. The key points for public warning include:

+ Transmission of the alerts shall be done via the mobile public telephone networks.

+ Alerts should be received on the mobile telephone of choice carried by each resident, citizen and visitor.

+ Messages must reach citizens and visitors alike including residents, national citizens temporarily in a threat location and overseas visitors in the affected area.

+ Messages must reach over 95% of the affected population.

This new legislation will no doubt improve public safety by increasing the reach of public alerts through the mobile phone networks. However, to be truly effective a public warning system should consider the nature of national emergencies that occur most often across the country and then aim to optimize multiple channels to ensure the right message reaches the right people at the right time, both reliably and rapidly.

Indeed, several European countries still use sirens in areas where mobile coverage is unreliable and there is clearly value in using TV, radio, mobile apps and social media within a holistic solution. This view is supported by the European Electronic Number Association (EENA):

“For the delivery of public warning, there appears to be no single solution that fits all the requirements for the timely notification of an emergency incident or situation. Therefore, a Public Warning System (PWS) ought to be a blend of the best attributes of the existing technologies, adapted to the particular demands of the country or territory in question.” – EENA Report, September 20192

The report from EENA provides useful insights into different communications technologies for population alerting and contains over 20 examples of public warning deployments around the world. It is available from the EENA website.

THE EU DIRECTIVE AT A GLANCE

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“Europe’s new mobile public warning system will be an important tool in making sure that citizens get accurate information and instructions. Quick, reliable information will help save lives… and I only hope that member states will put the system in place before the deadline to act.”

Dita Charanzová, Czech MEP

leading the EU ‘reverse text’

legislation

Clearly, the public’s growing reliance on mobile phones makes SMS text alerts a highly effective way to communicate with individuals during an emergency. Around 92% of the EU population owns a mobile phone and this number is projected to reach 1,241 billion by 2020.3

Using mobile phone networks, governments and emergency response organizations across Europe will be able to target those most at risk and transmit lifesaving messages, making it possible to:

+ Send tailored messages to groups of people in different areas during an emergency.

+ Use location data to direct and track people out of the danger zone. + Use SIM card data to tailor messages in specific languages. + Use SMS for two-way conversations with emergency services. + Monitor send data to track who has received the message.

There are two technologies which enable the mobile phone networks to be used for public warning: Cell Broadcast (CB) or Location-Based SMS (LB-SMS).

Cell Broadcast

Cell broadcast is similar to a ‘radio signal’ and is a one-to-many broadcasting technology that pushes messages to all mobile devices configured to receive them. Messages are automatically flashed onto the mobile phone screen, accompanied by a distinctive ringtone and vibration, even if users have their phone on silent. Cell Broadcast is a very fast method of sending a message. However, it has several drawbacks that reduce its effectiveness in an emergency scenario:

+ The message may not be received. No message is received if the cell broadcast is sent whilst a mobile is switched off and may not be received once the phone is turned on – the storage of messages is handset dependent.

+ Since messages are sent ‘point-to-area’, authorities have no visibility of how many people/phones are in a selected location.

+ Some phone users have to manually configure their handsets to receive cell broadcast messages, but anyone can opt out to disable the facility.

+ Not all phones (older handsets) are capable of receiving cell broadcast messages and not everyone is familiar with cell broadcast functionality.

+ Phone users must pre-configure their language preferences for emergency cell broadcast alerts.

+ No confirmation of delivery is provided – making it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of disseminating a warning.

MOBILE PHONES: A FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC WARNING

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+ It’s difficult for recipients to respond unless the alert message includes an embedded number or URL.

+ While fast, cell broadcast requires infrastructure investment in dedicated hardware to integrate cell broadcast into mobile networks.

+ Cell broadcast uses a ringtone and vibration which cannot be turned off and in certain situations could pose a threat to personal safety, for example if a person was hiding from an assailant.

Location-Based SMS

Location-Based SMS is a method of sending messages via mobile phone SMS (Short Message Service) to mobile phone users in a defined geographic area. It is a one-to-one technology that anonymously identifies all mobile subscribers in an area and sends a text message direct to that device. Anyone with a mobile phone and an active SIM card can receive the message and it requires no handset configuration by end-users. LB-SMS is reliable and will reach 100% of mobile users, but it is not as fast as Cell Broadcast.

LB-SMS does however provide additional value-added intelligence and alerting capabilities which are not available with Cell Broadcast:

+ All mobile handsets are capable of receiving Location-Based SMS messages – users don’t have to pre-configure their device or register to receive alerts.

+ LB-SMS uses the phone’s SIM card to detect the native language of users (based on country code) and automatically sends messages prepared in the language recipients will understand.

+ LB-SMS sends messages to people inadvertently moving into a threat location who won’t have received previous alerts.

+ If a mobile phone is off, previously sent alerts will be automatically received the moment the phone is turned on.

+ Recipients can easily respond to alert messages to report their situational need, or provide authorities with vital information.

Location-Based SMS – Benefits to authorities:

+ Authorities can instantly visualise the density, distribution and total number of people/handsets in an area, including nationality, on a real-time basis making it easy to monitor population movements and adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

+ LB-SMS provides immediate confirmation of message delivery, so authorities can measure the success of their alerting efforts and plan their next course of action more effectively.

+ LB-SMS delivers real-time reporting on the location/flow of handsets/people leaving the area.

+ LB-SMS is faster and more cost effective to implement.

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Unlike cell broadcast, Location-Based SMS technology also gives response teams powerful situational analysis capabilities and insights that are highly advantageous when dealing with emergency scenarios. For example:

+ Real-time and post alert reporting enables authorities to evaluate public warning performance accurately and demonstrate best efforts where public safety is concerned. Providing instant access to aggregated and anonymized totals of mobiles/devices in a defined warning area, authorities can ‘instantly see’ how many mobiles received the alert successfully (individual phone numbers are not available).

+ Authorities can ‘capture’ the metadata of everyone within a warning area at a specific time and re-message them post event or after they’ve left the location. This makes it possible to request all affected individuals contact a dedicated number to report their status, or to provide updated advisory information – such as the need to get a medical check-up.

As we move closer to the 2022 deadline, many countries are comparing Cell Broadcast to Location-Based SMS and considering which technology to use for public warning. As we have shown, there are disadvantages with both, and no single solution can meet the requirements of the EECC Code.

Cell Broadcast is fast but cannot reliably reach all mobile users. Location-Based SMS can reach 100% of mobile devices and with two-way communication but is not as fast as Cell Broadcast.

Before any decision is taken, it is worth considering which mobile solution:

+ Makes best use of the existing mobile network operator (MNO) infrastructure to deliver messages to a specific location or nationwide, within minutes of sending.

+ Ensures no member of the public is left behind or excluded + Automatically lets authorities know in real-time how many people/mobile

phone users are within a warning/affected area and who has received the alert message.

+ Requires no action on the part of the public to ‘opt in’ or ensure their device is configured to receive emergency messages.

+ Is capable of handling delivery of messages to overseas visitors in their native language.

+ Is bidirectional, so that members of the public can respond quickly and easily to provide additional vital ‘on the ground’ insights or information.

WHICH MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IS BEST?

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To help you start planning for your country wide population alerting system, here are some key questions you should consider. Further help is available from our public warning consultants, simply contact us using the details below.

1. How does the technology meet all the Article 110 EECC requirements and recommendations?

2. What are the most frequent scenarios where a public warning system will be used?

3. Can you be confident about reaching the majority of people in a target location within a matter of minutes of an event occurring?

4. In case of an immediate evacuation from an area – how do you notify residents and visitors, and how do you measure the rate of the evacuation?

5. How would you know that the public has been sufficiently warned and your messages have been received?

6. What is the typical size (in terms of population) of the area for which you would need to send a public warning?

PLANNING A PUBLIC WARNING SYSTEM: KEY QUESTIONS

1 Article 110; European Electronic Communications Code https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/1972/oj

2 EENA European Emergency Number Association: “PUBLIC WARNING SYSTEMS Update” Version 3.0 30 September 2019

https://eena.org/document/public-warning-systems-2019-update/

3 PSCE Europe, “Getting it Right First Time - Implementing Article 110, European Electronic Communications Code 2018” (March 2019)

Rather than choosing between CB or LB-SMS, a better option for public safety is to consider a ‘multi-channel’ approach which combines the best features of both mobile technologies but can be coordinated with other modes of communication such as sirens, TV, radio, digital signage etc as part of a holistic public warning solution.

Crucially, a public warning system should operate seamlessly and reliably for the agencies who send the public warning messages and the public who receives them.

The Everbridge public warning platform is the only solution capable of offering such a multi-channel approach which allows countries to deploy their preferred combination of emergency communications methods.

Our public warning solutions are used by more countries than any other provider. We have successfully deployed our solutions in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Singapore, India and Australia.

A MULTI CHANNEL PUBLIC WARNING PLATFORM

7. Country-wide alerts are a rare requirement - can the solution support more localised alerts (for events such as forest fires, flooding, power outages, terror attacks) to people in a defined area and across borders?

8. In case of an emergency, is it possible to track and alert foreign visitors in their native language?

9. When things settle down, is it possible to send a follow-up ‘all clear’ message to the initial recipients?

10. If your public warning system is not able to reach everyone affected, how would you manage the duty of care and legal liabilities?

To learn more about the EU Legislation visit www.publicwarning.eu

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VISIT WWW.EVERBRIDGE.CO.UKCALL +44 (0) 800 035 0081EMAIL [email protected]

ABOUT EVERBRIDGE Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG) is a global software company that provides enterprise software applications that automate and accelerate organizations’ operational response to critical events in order to keep people safe and businesses running. During public safety threats such as active shooter situations, terrorist attacks or severe weather conditions, as well as critical business events including IT outages, cyber-attacks or other incidents such as product recalls or supply-chain interruptions, over 4,000 global customers rely on the company’s Critical Event Management Platform to quickly and reliably aggregate and assess threat data, locate people at risk and responders able to assist, automate the execution of pre-defined communications processes through the secure delivery to over 100 different communication devices, and track progress on executing response plans. The company’s platform sent over 2 billion messages in 2017 and offers the ability to reach over 500 million people in more than 200 countries and territories, including the entire mobile populations on a country-wide scale in Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Bahamas, Singapore, Greece, Cambodia, and a number of the largest states in India. The company’s critical communications and enterprise safety applications include Public Warning, Mass Notification, Incident Management, Safety Connection™, IT Alerting, Visual Command Center®, Crisis Commander®, Community Engagement™ and Secure Messaging. Everbridge serves 9 of the 10 largest U.S. cities, 8 of the 10 largest U.S.-based investment banks, all 25 of the 25 busiest North American airports, six of the 10 largest global consulting firms, six of the 10 largest global auto makers, all four of the largest global accounting firms, four of the 10 largest U.S.-based health care providers and four of the 10 largest U.S.-based health insurers. Everbridge is based in Boston USA with international offices in London, Oslo, Stockholm, Paris, Munich, Madrid, Amsterdam, Singapore and Kolkota. For more information visit our website www.everbridge.co.uk, read our public warning blog at www.everbridge.co.uk/blog and follow EverbridgeEMEA on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Public Warning Systems - counterterrorbusiness.com