By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Mobile emergency alerts won’t spam your phone

Apr 6, 2018 | 2:00 PM

You won’t have to worry about being spammed now that emergency alerts will be sent directly to your mobile phone.

Starting today, the National Public Alerting System (Alert Ready) is including wireless networks in addition to traditional broadcast channels such as radio and television.

While some are concerned their phones could be hit with too many or unwanted notifications as a result of the change, Karen Mann with The City of Red Deer says that’s simply not the case.

“Communication is the backbone of emergency response and the ability to reach people quickly with accurate information where they are, not just our own residents, but people who are in our area for a variety of reasons, is important,” says Mann, The City’s Emergency Management Coordinator.

The new mobile alerts will go above and beyond what The City already offers with its Notify Red Deer program and what the province does with its emergency alerts, she explains.

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“Notify Red Deer is still a tool that can be used for very specific areas of our city. The other thing Notify Red Deer is used for is snow zone alerting and things like that,” she points out. “There’s definitely value in having both and they’re going to be systems that can complement each other.

Mann says The City will be looking to ensure its system and the new one aren’t redundant, nor a cause of confusion. Notify Red Deer is not being replaced, she clarifies.

When an alert is issued, a siren-like alarm like the one which is typically heard with emergency broadcasts on radio and television, will come from your phone.

The CRTC confirms that wireless carriers will conduct a test of the system during the week of May 6. Individuals will not be billed for messages.

(with files from The Canadian Press)