Civil Defence mobile alerts

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#1877193 4-Oct-2017 13:18

djtOtago:

Once the system is commissioned, I'm looking forward to a nation wide test so we can all see and hear how the system works.

Rolling 24 hour nationwide tests. Yeehaa. Looking forward to it.

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dinamochris

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#1877239 4-Oct-2017 14:13

My Mother's house is at Okain's Bay in Banks Peninsula. It is one of the 3% of the country (apparently) that doesn't have mobile coverage. When the Kaikoura earthquake hit last year, a Tsunami destroyed a house the next bay over in Pigeon Bay. Apparently a 5m high wave. Mum's place may have been far enough back from the beach, but the campground on the beach would get a pretty good hit. While she would have a peaceful night sleep with no mobile alarm, I think she would probably be woken by the huge wave carrying her out of her bed. I think it is a great idea to have the mobile warning system. Need to make sure all of the country is covered

Colinspocket

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#1877259 4-Oct-2017 14:31

I empathise with those who are upset about this, I got three of the alerts and it wrecked my sleep for the rest of the night. I agree the sound is extremely unnerving, it's that very distinct serious-risk-to-your-life-eerie-warning-tone-but-not-a-siren sound like you see in emergency broadcasts in movies and it honestly left me shaken for a while.

But the outrage is just ridiculous, wanting to block the alert is plain stupid as it could save the lives of you or your loved ones someday, and I bet if it did those people would be the first to complain that they didn't get enough warning. Taking it out on telcos and manufacturers is unfair as they have no provisioning for this, it's not a standard message, it's a signal designed to not be interfered with. Also, CD have already explained that any attempts to block it will be fruitless as by design it will override any settings you have.

With regard to "how could they let this happen"; no company has a 100% SLA, no QA is 100% effective. Perhaps it was mismanagement of the test team, perhaps it was an imbecile engineer, perhaps a stray insect shorted out some equipment. S**t happens and it happens to everyone. You have a right to be pissed. I am, my day's not as productive as it should have been because of it. But what more can CD do, they owned up and apologised almost immediately. The director went on public news at the earliest opportunity, took responsibility, apologised personally again, explained the circumstances behind the fault, and promised to try and ensure it never happens again. Honestly how many companies can you say would go to that much effort?

Bashing an agency who's only interest is keeping people alive is pretty low. I was pretty annoyed in the morning, I joined in on some negging of CD as I work in these kinds of environments myself. I still don't believe they should be completely absolved for their error, but nor should they be vilified. Their response to the issue has been exemplary and I reckon there are some people getting far too worked up about it, should probably go check their front lawn for meddling kids and then take a second to consider their attitude.

FYI Those with Samsung phones on Android 7 can simulate the alert by opening their stock Samsung message app, hitting the menu button to the right of the top search bar, and selecting Settings > Emergency alert settings > Emergency notification preview. It is very piercing and annoying at full volume, which it was during the tests.

antoniosk

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#1877279 4-Oct-2017 15:01

Received the alert on my Nexus 5, and heard it vibrating when it arrived but for reasons wasn't able to check it:

________

Antoniosk

mclean

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#1877306 4-Oct-2017 15:31

Our working arrangements mean that the waking hours of the fine woman who shares my sleeping accommodation don't often coincide with mine. Missing a midnight call-out is surely an opportunity lost. Who cares about an hour's sleep. Maybe we missed it because we connect through a femtocell.

I guess the saving grace (if one was needed) is that it they didn't test it with a proper message for an imminent asteroid strike or alien invasion - that would really have spoiled everyone's sleep.

PaulBags

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#1877350 4-Oct-2017 15:53

When live, will this affect phones with no sim/no own carrier signal? I certainly don't want my kitchen clock screeching out emergency signals. We should be able to disable it. Though if we had control over it as well switching the screen red, with icons for alert type, that'd be pretty cool.

So yeah, 100% for more control.

LennonNZ

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#1877358 4-Oct-2017 16:12

Iphone - Settings,Notifications, Go down right to the bottom, Emergency Alerts, Turn off. (Running 11.1 Beta . It might be different in 11.0.2)

https://support.apple.com/en-nz/HT202743

Amber Alerts aren't supported in NZ and they are called "Emergeny Alerts" in NZ not "Government Alerts"

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RunningMan

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#1877365 4-Oct-2017 16:20

@LennonNZ no different in iOS 11.0x

AFAIK the different options visible (AMBER / Government / Emergency etc) differ depending on the carrier settings applied to the phone. There was a new carrier settings update rolled out to Vodafone customers by Apple at the same time as iOS 11 was released a week or so ago. @Linux mentioned this update specifically included cell broadcast.

PhantomNVD

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#1877421 4-Oct-2017 19:20

PaulBags: When live, will this affect phones with no sim/no own carrier signal? I certainly don't want my kitchen clock screeching out emergency signals. We should be able to disable it. Though if we had control over it as well switching the screen red, with icons for alert type, that'd be pretty cool.

So yeah, 100% for more control.

I’m pretty sure ‘airplane mode’ would definitely knock this one on its head... for your ‘kitchen clock’, but who does that every night with their ‘real’ phone?

andrewNZ

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#1877448 4-Oct-2017 20:00

There are some pretty crazy reactions here.

These messages aren't going to be advertising Briscoes sales, they're an emergency warning system. The messages will amount to "the crap has hit the fan and you need to [action here] immediately."

I believe the Japanese system gives alerts for earthquakes up to a minute before you feel them depending on your distance from the epicenter. That'll potentially save your life.

For most questions here, the Civil Defense FAQ page has it covered

blakamin

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#1877462 4-Oct-2017 20:29

Wow... poor lost sleep people. #snowflakes :D

Wait for the day you hear that noise for real and realise there's a chance you could lose everything. Including your loved ones.

And then you'll be glad it came through your phone and not like in the old days when you only heard it if your battery-powered radio was on.

Have been through both bushfires and cyclones.

It's lifesaving getting mobile notifications, especially in fast moving fires.

PaulBags

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#1877466 4-Oct-2017 20:37

Been there, done that, it was yet another "CD jumping at shadows" tsunami threat, except this time with police sirens and one legged multi-horned white elephants. That started after the waves were supposed to hit. And the radio stations broadcast fluff most of the time leading up to it, instead of rolling alerts - and they didn't provide potentially life saving information like how far to evacuate (because congestion in safe zones, blocking in those actually in danger).

And you know what? It was incredibly traumatic - because those fusking sirens.

:rollseyes:

tdgeek

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#1877470 4-Oct-2017 20:46

andrewNZ: There are some pretty crazy reactions here.

These messages aren't going to be advertising Briscoes sales, they're an emergency warning system. The messages will amount to "the crap has hit the fan and you need to [action here] immediately."

I believe the Japanese system gives alerts for earthquakes up to a minute before you feel them depending on your distance from the epicenter. That'll potentially save your life.

For most questions here, the Civil Defense FAQ page has it covered

Well said. They made a mistake testing it as some went to the public. It happens. Its like insurance, you probably wont need it, but if you do...... This is GZ not Stuff comments

Turn the phone off if you're not bothered about getting a life threatening warning.

tdgeek

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#1877471 4-Oct-2017 20:48

blakamin:

Wow... poor lost sleep people. #snowflakes :D

Wait for the day you hear that noise for real and realise there's a chance you could lose everything. Including your loved ones.

And then you'll be glad it came through your phone and not like in the old days when you only heard it if your battery-powered radio was on.

Have been through both bushfires and cyclones.

It's lifesaving getting mobile notifications, especially in fast moving fires.

Yep, regrettably I can only support your post once.

Id like to see the thread when a real emergency happens, then its more complaints.

PaulBags

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#1877477 4-Oct-2017 21:03

tdgeek:
Turn the phone off if you're not bothered about getting a life threatening warning.

I will (well, flight mode). Though, if I had some control over it, I'd pick a less horrifying sound - but that's not an option because apparently big brother needs to control everything. I also wouldn't need to turn on flight mode, so I could still get messages from people if there was _actually_ something I needed to worry about, or if there was a personal emergency among those I care about.

But hey, keep infantilising people & pushing for technological control of everything. Let's all live in the THX-1138 universe.

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