by InTrieste
On Tuesday, Sept. 12, the city of Trieste will issue a test message through the text messaging system, which will allow the local government and public safety officials to send critical information to an individual’s cell phone or other mobile device during an emergency. The Sept. 12 alert is expected to reach approximately one million residents and visitors in the test area.
IT-alert is a new public warning system for direct information to the population, which broadcasts useful messages to mobile phones in a specific geographical area in the event of serious emergencies or imminent or ongoing catastrophes. When operational, for certain emergency events, the National Civil Protection Service with IT-alert will integrate the information and communication methods already envisaged for informing the population, in order to encourage the adoption of self-protection measures in relation to the specific type of risk.
T-alert, in fact, joins the already existing alarm systems also at local level, it is not salvific in itself, but it is aimed, with respect to a specific event that has occurred or is imminent, to allow the rapid distribution of the first information on possible situations of danger. The IT-alert message is received by anyone who is in the area affected by the emergency or calamitous event and has an active mobile phone. The IT-alert service complies with the “Common Alerting Protocol” (CAP) international standard to ensure complete interoperability with other national and international systems for disseminating alerts, emergency alerts and public notices.
IT-alert is a public service which, by sending messages to the devices present in the area affected by a serious emergency or by an imminent or ongoing catastrophic event, favors timely information to potentially involved people, with the aim of minimizing the individual and collective exposure to danger. IT-alert messages travel through cell-broadcast. Each mobile device connected to the cells of the mobile telephone operators’ networks, if turned on, can receive an “IT-alert” message. Thanks to cell-broadcast technology, IT-alert messages can be sent within a group of geographically close telephone cells, capable of delimiting an area corresponding as closely as possible to that affected by the emergency. The cell-broadcast also works in cases of limited field or in cases of saturation of the telephone band. The devices do not receive IT-alert messages if they are switched off or if there is no field and they may not sound if the ringtone is silenced. Although it is not necessary to download any App to receive IT-alert messages, in some cases a preventive verification of the device configuration may be necessary, such as in the case of a backup restore or if you are using an old version of the system operating.
The test for Trieste and Friuli Venezia Giulia is set for Tuesday 12 September. More information on the website https://www.it-alert.it/it/index.html
