Changes to Wireless Alerting Rules Could Create Problems, Microsoft Warns
Microsoft officials said they met with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff, at staff request, about the logistics of wireless emergency alerts. The FCC approved a notice at its November meeting looking at potential changes to WEA rules (see 1511190053). “No…
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efforts to improve the system, however well-intentioned, should in any way detract from or interfere with achieving the primary goal of the WEA system which is to alert users to imminent life-threatening circumstances without delay,” Microsoft said. “Minimizing delay is imperative because mere seconds can be critical in some emergencies.” Delays are possible if carriers transmit multi-segment messages, Microsoft said. URLs embedded in alerts also could cause problems, the company said. “If the alert contains an embedded URL, clicking on that URL will dismiss the alert,” Microsoft said. “Assuming the message history memory is not full, emergency alerts dismissed by Windows Phone users remain in their message history just like a text message and can be retrieved from that location for purposes of accessing the URL. We noted that consumers would need to know to look in their message history in order to return to the URL.” Microsoft filed a notice on the meeting in docket 15-91.