District WEA Test Seen Building Trust in Emergency Text-Message Alerts
The District of Columbia’s test of the wireless emergency alerts (WEA) system increased confidence in the critical communications system, said D.C. and industry officials last week. On the Sunday afternoon prior to Friday’s inauguration of President Donald Trump, the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DCHSEMA) tested the WEA message system and city official email list portion of the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). The FCC Public Safety Bureau gave DC HSEMA a waiver to do the test, which included cooperation from various federal agencies including the Secret Service (see 1701130066). Everbridge, a cloud-based communications software vendor that got a contract with the National Capitol Region in 2014, provided technical support during the test and in the District’s emergency operations center during Friday’s inauguration.
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The WEA system allows public safety to broadcast text messages to cellphone users within a geofenced region during an emergency, regardless of carrier or whether the customer subscribed to notification programs like Alert DC. That was especially a challenge in the presidential inauguration with so many people coming from out of town, said Everbridge Senior Solutions Consultant Tom Crane in an interview. Crane leads training, technical support and best practices for customers in the National Capital Region and was on hand for the Sunday test. The city also provided a way for visitors to quickly subscribe to inauguration alerts by texting “inaug” to 888-777, but WEA was a backup for emergencies, he said. “It’s just a very effective way to reach people.”
“The Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test was a great opportunity to work with our FCC and FEMA partners and to test the system prior to a real world emergency,” DC HSEMA Chief of Staff Brian Baker emailed. “The test was part of a continuous process to refine and enhance Washington, DC's ability to alert the public.” The agency “took advantage of the large crowds that are expected to test system ahead of this major event,” he said. The WEA drill -- which included DC HSEMA, FCC and FEMA staff -- was “a very small part” of a full-day “rehearsal” for the inauguration, said Crane, “but certainly something that was important to those who were there.” The FCC declined comment.
“This is a test of the District of Columbia Emergency Alert System. No action is required,” read the WEA test SMS broadcast by DC HSEMA. The agency used Everbridge software to draw a polygon around the National Mall area and target messages to that region alone, said Crane. The Everbridge official called the test “a very good success,” though he said there’s no way to tell exactly how many people received the message because the IPAWS systems doesn’t report back that information. Also, while many received the message immediately, there was a delay for some recipients of 15 to 30 minutes, “even if they were sitting in the same location,” he said. “There are some questions about how the different carriers handle that message and how it’s processed to go out.” It may not be a major issue in a high-population area like D.C., however, where it’s likely a person nearby will get the message and spread the word even if not everyone receives it right away, he said.
Importantly, the test built confidence in the WEA system, said Crane. The D.C. test was the first time a public safety agency has used WEA for this purpose, though it has been used by other entities for weather and amber alerts, he said. “I think Winston Churchill or Spider-Man or somebody may have said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’ and so when you click that send button and you’re hitting so many people, you do want to be comfortable that you’ve done it right and that you’ve said the right thing.” That has made some people “a little apprehensive” to use the system, but seeing D.C. test WEA successfully should encourage other jurisdictions, he said.
There's still room for improvement, said Crane. WEA messages are limited to 90 characters, a subject that the FCC considered in rulemaking last year (see 1609300058). “We’re all hoping that the carriers adapt quickly” to expanding message length, he said. “Getting an emergency alert out in 90 characters is not ideal. Every alert you send out, you want to be clear and concise, but not too concise that you don’t have pertinent details in there.”