• EN

EU Alert System

The EU alert system is a way to send out a public warning to specific regions or entire countries. The threat environment is constantly escalating and evolving and is represented by risks such as floods, terrorism, wildfires, cyclones, pandemics, environmental spills and other hazards that can affect life on a large scale. This has meant that governments need a way to alert the population of the risks in order to protect citizens from harm.

In December 2018, Article 1100 of the European Electronics Communication Code (EECC) was passed. This regulation requires that all countries in the European Union and European Economic Area must implement an EU alert system by June 2022.

What Are The Requirements of an EU Alert System?

For a public warning system to be effective, it must offer the following:

  • A way to target the affected population in a way that does not cause widespread panic.
  • The ability to convey messages rapidly and reliably in real time.
  • The ability to provide statistics on messages that are sent and received so that performance can be monitored.
  • Be able to reach a very high proportion of people within the targeted areas. This includes roaming users who are visiting the area. Messages must be delivered to visitors in their native language.
  • Users should not have to opt-in to receive messages or need to configure their phones in any way.
  • Have the ability to allow 2-way communication in order to determine if users require assistance due to an emergency situation and to also receive information from the public - useful in cases of missing children, for example.

At the heart of our EU alert system is mobile phone communication. Some systems also use combinations of communication services and this might include radio, television, social media, voice, app notifications and emails. The more channels you use, the more chance you have of your message reaching everybody. However, mobile phones are still the number one channel for emergency communication.

Another advantage of our EU alert system is being able to convey data on population movements. This helps to determine how many people are at risk in the region and also to see their movements over time. Authorities armed with this information are able to confirm whether evacuations have been successful and to be able to plan the locations and sizes of responder resources.

Location-Based SMS

At Intersec, our EU alert system uses Location-Based SMS (LB-SMS) and combines the benefits of text messaging (supported by all devices and allowing two-way communication) and the cell-based location data accuracy of each mobile network. With LB-SMS, we are able to send messages to any mobile phone that is connected to a specific mobile phone mast without there being any requirement to opt-in or share personal data.

To find out more about our EU alert system, speak to the friendly and helpful team here at Intersec. We would be delighted to speak to you and to show you a demo of how our solution works. Don’t leave public safety to chance.