SMS in emergency plan

[Ext User(will kemp)]

From the Sydney Morning Herald, on the NSW government's new terror
(terrifying?) emergency plan:

- SydneyALERT: A secure information network providing messages from police
to building managers, security staff and chief fire wardens across the CBD
by email, text, telephone and facsimile.

Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to me!

Will

[Ext User(John Smith)]

I can see it now...

'hey this is the cops - ur place has a b0mb in it, can u get ur staff to
evac out - if you cou=]/'
SMS ERROR

will kemp wrote:
> From the Sydney Morning Herald, on the NSW government's new terror
> (terrifying?) emergency plan:
>
> - SydneyALERT: A secure information network providing messages from police
> to building managers, security staff and chief fire wardens across the CBD
> by email, text, telephone and facsimile.
>
> Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to me!
>
> Will
>

[Ext User(will kemp)]

On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 17:18:41 +1000, John Smith wrote:

> I can see it now...
>
> 'hey this is the cops - ur place has a b0mb in it, can u get ur staff to
> evac out - if you cou=]/'
> SMS ERROR

:-)

[Ext User(Rod Speed)]

will kemp <will@xxxx.swaggie.net> wrote:

> From the Sydney Morning Herald, on the NSW government's
> new terror (terrifying?) emergency plan:

> - SydneyALERT: A secure information network providing messages
> from police to building managers, security staff and chief fire
> wardens across the CBD by email, text, telephone and facsimile.

> Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to me!

More fool you.

[Ext User(Darius)]

"will kemp" <will@xxxx.swaggie.net> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.08.05.07.00.08.281858@xxxx.swaggie.n et...
> From the Sydney Morning Herald, on the NSW government's new terror
> (terrifying?) emergency plan:
>
> - SydneyALERT: A secure information network providing messages from police
> to building managers, security staff and chief fire wardens across the CBD
> by email, text, telephone and facsimile.
>
> Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to me!

You can exclude major terrorist bomb threats incidents from the text message
scenario, as the mobile networks will be shut down fairly quickly in that
situation:)

[Ext User(John Henderson)]

Darius wrote:

> You can exclude major terrorist bomb threats incidents from
> the text message scenario, as the mobile networks will be shut
> down fairly quickly in that situation:)

I'm sure they've done their homework, and know exactly how to
achieve what they want.

John

[Ext User(Michael)]

"will kemp" <will@xxxx.swaggie.net> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.08.05.07.00.08.281858@xxxx.swaggie.n et...
> From the Sydney Morning Herald, on the NSW government's new terror
> (terrifying?) emergency plan:
>
> - SydneyALERT: A secure information network providing messages from police
> to building managers, security staff and chief fire wardens across the CBD
> by email, text, telephone and facsimile.
>
> Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to me!

You are living in the past, boy.

I get 20-30 msgs from work daily and they all come through without any probs

[Ext User(Telco Geek)]

>>Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to me!
>
> You are living in the past, boy.
> I get 20-30 msgs from work daily and they all come through without any probs

Yes they are very reliable, but by definition SMS is not a guaranteed
real time service. The SMSc can only store a finite number of messages,
and can only forward them at a finite rate.

In an emergency situation when you want it to be guaranteed and real
time is exactly the time when it becomes questionable. In an emergency
the number of SMS's sent will increase dramatically increasing delivery
times (as they get queued up in the SMSc), and in the worst case they'll
get dropped, or you will simply not be able to send them. I don't know
how much capacity the Australian operators have to store messages, but
it will be finite.

[Ext User(Jeremy Quirke)]

"Telco Geek" <noneone@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:FQhJe.74066$oJ.34338@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>>>Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to
>>>me!
>>
>> You are living in the past, boy.
>> I get 20-30 msgs from work daily and they all come through without any
>> probs
>
> Yes they are very reliable, but by definition SMS is not a guaranteed real
> time service. The SMSc can only store a finite number of messages, and can
> only forward them at a finite rate.
>
> In an emergency situation when you want it to be guaranteed and real time
> is exactly the time when it becomes questionable. In an emergency the
> number of SMS's sent will increase dramatically increasing delivery times
> (as they get queued up in the SMSc), and in the worst case they'll get
> dropped, or you will simply not be able to send them. I don't know how
> much capacity the Australian operators have to store messages, but it will
> be finite.

Yes, point-to-multipoint cell broadcast would be a better alternative, in
theory. But many phones are not set up to handle this.

[Ext User(Michael)]

"Telco Geek" <noneone@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:FQhJe.74066$oJ.34338@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> >>Text messages for emergency information? It sounds a bit unreliable to
me!
> >
> > You are living in the past, boy.
> > I get 20-30 msgs from work daily and they all come through without any
probs
>
> Yes they are very reliable, but by definition SMS is not a guaranteed
> real time service. The SMSc can only store a finite number of messages,
> and can only forward them at a finite rate.

A mobile service is not a guaranteed real time service. A BTS can only hold
a finite number of calls at the one time