The warning alarm

Chestnut thanks, I did know this. My post was in response to the suggestion the message only needed to be sent by text not as a serious immediate action alert. There wasn't an 'imminent danger' to be alerted to, just a general warning of correct behaviour. Two very different scenarios.

Rosie51

Do text messages not show on your iPad? Mine come through on my iPad and Macbook, and I often answer from these too.

This wasn't a text message, it was an emergency alert. It showed on the screen and you had to click okay. This was not like a text message at all.

These emergency alerts are kept in your settings under either 'notifications' or 'safety and emergency' where you can see the history and change the settings. Mine is under 'wireless emergency alerts' but you can always Google to ask about your model of phone.

Well if you have, it made sense to me.

I think I have posted on the wrong thread.

I love a barbeque. Ours is charcoal fired and I don't think that anyone can predict where a spark might fly under such dry conditions, so we havn't had one. Much as we would have enjoyed it.
Our fire officers have been working so hard, I wouln't want to risk putting them in any more danger.
They requested the alarm, and I don't blame them.

I think the general feeling online seems to be that the alarm itself should be saved for actual emergencies which are in progress and need your immediate attention. Therefore using it in this way is rather like 'the boy that cried wolf' because there was no immediate danger. Next time maybe some not so bright people will think it's just another public safety information message when in fact they are just 500 yards from a raging fire.

Keep the alarm for real emergencies and just send the text for public information messages or warnings.

No, I opted not to, because I didn’t want messages popping up on screen from my bank, phone company etc. whilst I was doing something else all the time. Perhaps I’m odd, but I like to keep ‘business’ stuff separate when I’m relaxing.

Do text messages not show on your iPad? Mine come through on my iPad and Macbook, and I often answer from these too.

I’ve got an iPhone and an iPad, so they have the same functionality, apart from the phone and text messages. It’s not that I don’t use the functions, it’s just easier (bigger screen, easier to type) to access on my iPad when I’m at home.

Casdon

That’s no help to me though, as my phone is in a case, and in my handbag. I consciously manage corporate organisations interruptions, given they are very rarely important annd unexpected. Unless it had rung, I wouldn’t have picked it up until the next day.

I don’t think there is one solution that suits everybody, however, whatever they try.

Well I guess if a person has a smartphone and then rarely uses it then that is similar to not having one. If your phone had been in another room (like mine) the alarm would have sounded but you wouldn't have heard anything and wouldn't have got the message until the next day. In my case I heard nothing but saw the message as soon as I came back into the room.

Too little, too late?

No. I'm assuming it was sent to smartphones and I don't have one.

That’s no help to me though, as my phone is in a case, and in my handbag. I consciously manage corporate organisations interruptions, given they are very rarely important annd unexpected. Unless it had rung, I wouldn’t have picked it up until the next day.

I don’t think there is one solution that suits everybody, however, whatever they try.

Casdon

Would a text even be read though? I ignore them when they come in, and answer them once a day, so that wouldn’t work for me. I don’t think there’s any method of communication that suits everybody’s needs, because we all lead different lives and have different ways of looking at things - it’s a no win for the government.

The text would have been fine because my phone was in another room and I never heard the alarm. When I looked at my phone there was an urgent message plastered all over the screen. It wasn't just a normal text message and you had to click okay to show you'd seen it. You couldn't have missed it and there was no need for the alarm.

This is not uncommon abroad, of course.
The classy Venetians warn of Aqua Alta with a burst of classical music..

A few years ago, whilst visiting a friend in Plymouth, we were in the busy city centre heading for a restaurant. Just as we were about to cross the road, hundreds of mobile phones sounded the alarm.
We stared at the sky, we looked at each other, we frantically prodded and scrolled in bewilderment.
It turned out that an unexploded WW2 bomb recently discovered in someone's back garden was about to be moved through the streets of the city and down to the breakwater.
There it was to be taken out to sea and blown up.
The city Council had sent out the emergency warning of the exclusion zone and the route of the truck carrying the bomb.

JenniferEccles

Charities involved in helping women in abusive relationships have strongly criticised this warning as it could have alerted the abuser to a secret phone.

At least if we had been told it was happening at a certain time, vulnerable people could ensure the alert on their phone was switched off.

Also I was under the impression that the alarm was only meant to be used to warn of imminent danger to life.

Yes. I saw something on Facebook asking how many women would be beaten up because of the alarm and didn’t realise what they meant until this was explained to me.

Various people who were driving say they almost had an accident as they were shocked.
I don’t think this emergency alarm was ever meant to be about reminding people of not starting fires in Summer.
A text or tv announcements would have been enough.

Casdon

Would a text even be read though? I ignore them when they come in, and answer them once a day, so that wouldn’t work for me. I don’t think there’s any method of communication that suits everybody’s needs, because we all lead different lives and have different ways of looking at things - it’s a no win for the government.

There aren’t many people who only check their phone once a day tbf😁

I think like that this did have the effect of devaluing the alarm. That level of urgency should only be used for imminent danger, not for what was in essence a public service announcement no matter the seriousness of the situation. Should it go again I'd likely ignore it and read the message at a later time not believing it needs immediate attention. The notification could have been sent without the accompanying klaxon. I can't remember the sound that accompanied the alerts I received when in Canada informing me of an imminent tornado, but it wasn't a screeching klaxon and did the job just as well.

I suppose i think it wasnt an emergency but maybe I am just whinging, after all I have switched them off so it has no impact on me now. Yep I am just whinging.

Charities involved in helping women in abusive relationships have strongly criticised this warning as it could have alerted the abuser to a secret phone.

At least if we had been told it was happening at a certain time, vulnerable people could ensure the alert on their phone was switched off.

Also I was under the impression that the alarm was only meant to be used to warn of imminent danger to life.

I think a lot of people are like me though, if I’m at home I use the iPad, I don’t bother with my phone unless it rings, and use messenger on the iPad to communicate with family and friends, therefore only boring stuff comes through on texts.

Well I wont be texting you then casdon

Would a text even be read though? I ignore them when they come in, and answer them once a day, so that wouldn’t work for me. I don’t think there’s any method of communication that suits everybody’s needs, because we all lead different lives and have different ways of looking at things - it’s a no win for the government.