Ten years ago, the world as we knew it changed. September 11, 2001 became a new milestone in time for generations of Americans. As we now approach the ten-year anniversary of this tragedy, it’s helpful to look back over the last decade to see just how far we’ve come. Specifically, let’s examine the event’s impact on warning and mobilizing people in a crisis, asking the question, “Are we better off now?”
Areas of Improvement
Greater calling capacity.
Ten years ago, public safety notification systems were almost entirely on-premise based installations. Servers, telephone lines, etc., were all housed inside the EOC. As such, calling capacity was limited due to the constraints of installing, maintaining and funding dedicated telephone lines. In those days, a large system could make 48 simultaneous calls.
While many on-premise systems are still in use today, the industry is trending toward hosted applications connected to a large telephony infrastructure. With this configuration, hundreds or even thousands of calls can be placed at once. This trend is creating the ability to warn more people in a shorter amount of time than could be imagined a decade ago.
More communication channels.
Technology advancements over the last decade now provide for more alerting options. In 2001, smartphones were in their infancy. SMS had yet to take hold in the U.S. Dedicated pager systems were still widely used. No one had even heard the term “social media” nor imagined its impact on communication.
Today, we have a plethora of options available for reaching people. Devices are smarter and more capable. Social networks allow messages to spread faster and wider than the actual warning infrastructure can generate by itself. While no doubt these advancements also create challenges for emergency managers, overall there is a pervasive feeling that “the more the better” when it comes to diversity in the ways and means of warning the public.
Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)
In 2001, discussions were just beginning on how to standardize collecting and relaying warning information. The tragic events of 9/11 placed a spotlight on the need for interoperable communication standards of all types, propelling the discussion forward. Over the next few years, technology standards would be created to help pass alert and warning information between systems that were previously “closed” or proprietary.
While CAP adoption by the industry has been slow (more on this later), the challenging initial hurdle of creating a practical standard has been achieved. As IPAWS and other CAP-reliant developments continue to mature, better integration among disparate systems will occur, providing greater functionality and broader reach.
More funding sources.
Ten years ago, it was questionable as to whether or not common public safety grants could actually be used for funding emergency notification systems. In addition, many grants only provided for capital purchases—not subscription fees (even as the demand for hosted services grew).
Thankfully, both of these things have changed over the past decade. Grant language continues to be tweaked that not only allows for the acquisition of notification technology, but encourages it specifically. Grant language has also changed to provide room for subscription and on-going support services. These changes have helped move the industry forward.
More vendor choices.
Finally, the industry has seen an explosion of providers surrounding emergency notification. While some might say this is negative since it adds confusion to the marketplace (they have a point), in general most see the variety of options and the advancements created through free enterprise as helpful developments.
These are just some of the positive changes in alerts and warnings over the years since 9/11. Of course, there have also been plenty of missteps and lost opportunities in the industry. We’ll take a look at a few of those in our next post.
Above all else, the most important thing about this anniversary is to remember the innocent people who lost their lives. It’s a solemn time to reaffirm our commitment to preserving the safety and prosperity of our nation’s citizens.
Thanks for all you do.
Lorin
