Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Sounds like a good idea, I wonder what it would take to make the project possible. And what would the cost be to FEMA. Ofcourse the value of life has no price. Good suggestion.

Taking it a step further, would you mind if your phone answered back with two pieces of information? 1: The alert had been read and 2: GPS coordinates at the time. Not any user information, like your phone number. If those two items are returned, FEMA would instantly know where people are and if they got the message and if not, where there are holes in telecommunication. With maps, this would instantly show where people are either badly effected, or without communication. I'm not suggesting that you be able to ANSWER the alert, that's just too much data. But I think collecting a ping from each read message is feasible.

Idea sounds good. There are several possible approaches but also several pitfalls. Instead of looking at a single message (EAS) and a single device (cell phones) the question should be more strategic because the devices will continue to change and there will be many types of messaging needed. Instead of just EAS and cell phones I would suggest looking at approaches like NYAlert and combining many message types (EAS could be a main one) and ways to receive the messages (cell, text, social media, rss/atom feeds, etc.)

A system similiar to Nixle may be effective on a larger scale.

IPAWS Google it

There is a process for this, it's called Collaborating Operating Groups (COGs). I am curious though if any cellular providers have opted into this program. I assume they may be hesitant due to potential bandwidth issues during periods of high usage (i.e. a disaster). If I remember correctly, many WPS users could not complete cellular calls during the recent East coast earthquake due to the overwhelming load of SMS messages. While a very good idea, propagating EAS messages to cellular devices will further increase the load. I think cellular providers would need to improve their infrastructure to handle the increased messaging load.

I agree, but key to this is that all cell phones in the affected area need to be contacted, not just the cell phones with that area code. You need to think about human behavior and changing cell phone numbers is a pain. I bought my cell phone in Chicago, so I had a Chicago area code while I lived in Virginia, New Orleans (where I was affected by Katrina), Texas, and DC. I probably would not have received messages in New Orleans if the system had been up.

Also, most text warning systems in place in localities and at colleges, require the person to sign up. In most cases, people who need the warnings would not know to opt-in or would not feel comfortable opting in. The system needs to be set up to prioritize safety, so there needs to be a way to contact people regardless of whether they "want" the warning.

In a major emergency, cell phones do not have the capacity or reliability needed. For our emergency communications, we are going to a GIT Satellite two-way, text-messaging pager, with GPS, alert signal, unit I.D., hand-crank generator, foreign language capability, and "burst transmission" means to greatly reduce satellite time ... while facilitating thousands of same-time users with full reliability.

I agreed with the idea of placing the cell phone on the EAS, however it must be "applied" for by the user, especially if it will contain any type of ping back. Otherwise it could be taken by the American Public as an invasion of privacy and will never be rolled out.

CMAS is the Mobile component to IPAWS. This issue has been addressed already.

What would the ramifications be in a school setting when the notice was received? What about a mass gathering in an events center? At our last preparedness fair it became clear that it was not uncommon for 10 year olds to have a phone. I wouldn't exclude the idea but some consideration may have to be given to message content - far more detailed than is currently given.