Therefore, not all emergency-sms – New Technology

This is map of SOS Alarms used to warn of Stockholm residents about the fire in The premises.

A message from the SOS Alarm on Wednesday night created a question mark for many of the inhabitants in Stockholm: why you got a, but not I?

the Text message was a so-called Important Message to the Public (VMA). It warned of an ongoing fire in The academy’s premises on Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. The ability to alert citizens via text message SOS Alarm, been able to do since over a year back.

But this new service has its limitations: it runs only to the mobile phones registered in the area where the accident takes place. Because the in this case was going on in the vicinity of Stockholm, sent text messages to many of those who work inside in Stockholm, but perhaps live outside the tolls.

Read more: SOS Alarm requires a change in the law for effective emergency text

On a map – as New Technologies have been – had SOS Alarm together with the emergency services highlighted an area that stretched over Norrmalm, Östermalm, Gärdet, Djurgården and the Old Town.

” It will be a bit approximate, given the time constraints. But we were instructed by the emergency services in the districts concerned. And then you take into account the wind direction as well, ” says Fredrik Sjöberg, krisberedskapssamordnare at SOS Alarm.

Sjöberg want to point out that if you were in the highlighted area on Wednesday night, so there is no guarantee that you got the message. SOS Alarm has the technology to be able to position mobile phones, but the law does not give them the space to do so.

Read more: – Warning-text no method for the Swedish police

the New Technology already reported the other day that SOS Alarm are working hard to get permission to temporarily position the phones so that they can reach the right people in the right place. And after the fire in Stockholm, people on social media asking how to do to register their phone so as to SOS Alarm.

” the Answer is that it cannot. Today, we can only retrieve information from the mobile operators ‘ records. But if the law is changed, would all of which are within the selected area will automatically be able to get a VMA via sms, ” says Fredrik Sjöberg.

Sms-dispatch on Wednesday night, it was with good margin the largest SOS Alarm done so far: the message popped up on the 101 000 phones.

– It will be sent out in batches to not overload the cellular network, ” says Sjöberg.