The components of the system include AEN on the internet – a website available free to the public containing video feeds and bulletins issued by emergency management offices and other government agencies, and AEN-TV – a TV channel carrying the most important new conferences and other feeds from emergency management offices and government agencies. Some feeds will be carried live, while others will be prioritized and run on a schedule posted on the channel.
The system will also include Alert FM (powered by GSSNet) – a comprehensive alerting system using part of local FM stations’ signals (subcarriers) that can send messages instantly to an entire community or to specific neighborhoods or individuals using proprietary technology. In addition, the alerts can be sent to specific mobile phones as text or voice messages and by email.
The fully-deployed AEN/Alert FM system will be a public/private partnership between local, state, and national emergency agencies and America’s Emergency Network. Any government agency with emergency-management responsibilities for a community, regardless of size, will have access to the secure AEN system to distribute their information.
In addition, by joining AEN, local governments will be able to ‘push’ their information to the worldwide media instead of having to wait for reporters to come to them. Media outlets will have full and free access to information from governments of all sizes to feed to reporters on the scene increasing the accuracy of emergency information being broadcast.
There is nothing more frustrating than being in a functioning TV or radio station after a hurricane (or other disaster) not knowing what’s going on because you can’t communicate with the outside world, said Mr Norcross. Governments cannot even begin to deal with a natural or man-made disaster if emergency managers can’t communicate with the public. This is a problem that had to be solved.
Mr Norcross also said that he plans to have AEN operational on the internet later this year, with AEN-TV on the air in early 2008.
