December 16, 2020

AlertSense Announces Immediate Support for WEA 2.0

Enables Next Standard in Wireless Emergency Alerts

In September 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the specifications for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) 2.0. These enhancements improve the ability of emergency managers to alert the public to imminent threats. WEA 2.0 allows users to send significantly longer messages and enables Spanish-language alerts.

Today, FEMA managers at the National 9-1-1 Association (NENA) Conference in Orlando, FL carried out the first public demonstration of the new WEA 2.0 system using AlertSense software.

AlertSense is the first alert origination software provider to support this new standard, effective immediately. AlertSense provides an easy-to-use interface that states, counties and other public alerting authorities use to generate Integrated Public Wireless Alert (IPAWS) messages. The IPAWS system alerts residents to dangerous situations, allowing them to take action and protect themselves from threats, ultimately saving lives.

Von Hansen, Chairman of the AlertSense board, enthusiastically endorses this new functionality. “WEA 2.0 will make it easier for Emergency Managers to efficiently communicate imminent threats to residents. We are thrilled to be working with the Federal Emergency Management Association to put this life-saving technology in the hands of the people we all depend on to keep us safe.”

Wireless Emergency Alerts first became available in April 2012. Since then WEA has been used over 47,000 times by federal, state, territory, tribal, and local public safety organizations to alert the public about threats to life and property. These public safety organizations have worked with FEMA, FCC, and the wireless industry to make several improvements. WEA 2.0 will expand alert message length from 90 to 360 character, add Spanish language alerts, improve the geo-targeting of alerts, add new test and public safety message categories. These new capabilities will help public safety organizations alert the public with more information, better precision, and with increased flexibility.

About AlertSense:

AlertSense provides solutions that enable communities to effectively manage communications in critical situations. Thousands of clients use AlertSense software to quickly and efficiently direct employees, residents, first responders, law enforcement, and government officials to safety during a crisis. Public safety threats–like tornadoes, floods, or an active shooter–are effectively dealt with by Emergency Managers every day using AlertSense technology. We enable direct communication with residents through mobile networks to any cellular device and increase coordination efforts of government organizations with secure, internal communications. In addition, AlertSense offers comprehensive software solutions for organizations to manage critical events like IT outages, assurance of supply issues, leadership continuity, and every-day challenges like workforce automation.

For more details on the WEA 2.0 solutions available from AlertSense, please visit our site.

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