Emergency alert system (EAS) was designed by
FCC to send out important emergency informations. It was introduced in
1997 and is an upgrade to the former Emergency Broadcast System which
was intended to keep American citizens warned of impeding Soviet nuclear
attacks but in turn became the most essential method of passing on
information about natural disasters.
Formerly it was used just to pass information to the President who in
turn address the nation through several broadcast methods in the event
of a national emergency. Now this system is used to broadcast emergency
notification messages to thousands of households warning of natural
disasters. This system can also provide safety instructions and various
other informations to seek shelter.
Some of the upgrades from the old EBS systems include:
- Automatic Operation - The system can be set up
to work even at unattended broadcasting centers.
- Redundancy - The system monitors at least two
independent sources for emergency broadcasts.
- Less Intrusive - The system tests are shorter
and less frequent.
- Multilingual - The digital nature of the system
can convert emergency signals to any language.
Working of EAS
All registered broadcast stations have EAS hardware installed. A
central signal consisting of codes is sent out on the system. The signal
is then received by the system which is further re-transmitted to all
other broadcasters within a certain geographic area. These emergency
messages are broadcasted by the use of AM, FM, TV, cable and satellite.
Types of Emergency Alert System Calls
- Simple Warning Message - This is a basic
emergency alert call where the phone system dials from a list and
plays one standard message either to an individual or to an
answering machine.
- Emergency Alert Message and Touchphone Responses -
This method gives the contacted individual options from which to
select. Using touchphone responses such as "Press 1 for...",
various choices give several informations.
- Emergency Alert Message and Call Transfer -
This method transfers the call to a third party phone number. Using
touchphone responses the contacted individual can request that the
call be transferred to another person or organization.
Benefits of Emergency Alert Systems
- Quickly broadcasting clear, concise warnings and alarms
- Providing high volume contacts and notifications
- Extending 24 by 7 hours of operation
- Automating routine calls
- Speeding response times to message recipients
- Expanding call capacity faster and at a lower cost
- Emergency Dialer providing multi-lingual support
- Perform non-emergency group contacts
- Reaching people in cars or buildings also
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