It’s been a little over a year since France adopted its alert system for holders of smartphonesand it’s time for him to prove himself.
Part of France was hit by extremely violent winds last night, and three departments in particular were placed on red alert. This type of situation is not common, but it can quickly put residents in danger, especially since they are not always aware of the seriousness of the situation. This is why the authorities are doing everything possible to alert them, even if it means leaving a small notification on their cell phones.
Hard to miss Ciaran
If you live in the northwest of France, your smartphone may have given you a big scare, or worse, woken you up during a well-deserved nap on a public holiday. And for good reason: the French alert system FR-Alert has been activated in the departments of Finistère, Côtes-d’Armor and Manche. And, it will have been difficult to miss it, since it sends a notification that completely overrides silent mode and uses a clearly audible ringtone.
It was in a press release that the prefectures concerned announced the use of the system this Wednesday 1er November, and most Android and iOS users had already started receiving notifications by early evening. It was thus possible to inform them of the implementation of red vigilance, as well as to give them some safety instructions.
A system that still needs to prove itself?
FR-Alert took a long time to see the light of day. Made mandatory in European Union countries since 2018, France waited until the last moment, June 2022, to finally set up its own alert system. It uses 4G and 5G networks, and informs residents within a 5 km radius around the areas concerned, without any prior action being necessary to activate it.
Although it was tested several times during its first year of operation, FR-Alert was rarely used for climatic reasons, except last July in five departments in eastern France. However, we can expect it to be deployed more and more often, as has already been the case for several years in many countries around the world. Smartphones have become the main information channels for residents, and the adoption of such alerts makes sense.
At the time of writing, it is still quite difficult to know whether the system worked well. However, on social networks, some users indicate that they have not received notifications when they should have. The reasons may be diverse, but we must hope that this sort of lottery has not had a negative impact, and that it will be resolved before the appearance of other major climatic events.
Source : Prefecture of Finistère
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