Is SMS Ready for SOS?

1
Is SMS Ready for SOS?

• Terry McCabe

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Airwide Solutions

• Market leader in next generation mobile messaging
  and mobile internet infrastructure, applications
  and solutions
• Developing innovative, high-performance messaging
  solutions since 1992
• We are an industry leader in innovation,
  performance, quality and customer
  flexibility
• Serving more than 120 mobile operators in 48
  countries
• Leader in mobile security solutions (EIR) 53
  systems in 46 operators
• Strong regional presence in EMEA, Asia and
  Americas
• Market share leader in key strategic components

3
Global Presence Local Experience
Espoo
Reading
Montreal
Burlington
Gurgaon
Atlanta
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Johannesburg
Sydney
Santiago
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What do we consider an Emergency?

• Natural Disasters
• Severe weather
• Tsunami
• Volcanoes
• H5N1 flu, SARS
• Manmade Crises
• Terrorism
• Campus or workplace shootings
• Child abduction
• Food/Drug contamination

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What is the role of Mobile Devices?

• Cellphones make Everyone Contactable
• Penetration rates high and increasing
• Always on Always connected
• Network coverage greater than 90

• Benefits of Cellphone over other means
• Personal and immediate
• Demands attention and response
• Allows 2-way communication

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What makes SMS particularly effective?

• Well understood and Ubiquitous
• All mobile devices support SMS today
• Network agnostic
• CDMA
• TDMA
• GSM
• Viral nature of SMS messaging
• Mature and reliable Technology
• Not dependant on deployment of next new thing
• Will continue to be supported long into the
  future
• Share infrastructure with Mobile Marketing
• Common technology, different usage model

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Global experience Local applicability

• What have we learned elsewhere?
• Many examples of different use models and
  approaches
• Concrete cases of lives saved and property
  protected
• Some examples
• Mountain rescue triggered by SMS
• Emergency responders alerted by SMS
  (www.sms-responder.com)
• Other Mountaineers alerted to respond by SMS

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More examples from around the globe

• Emergency Alert System operated by FEMA
• FCC has approved nationwide cellphonealerts
  integrated with emergency alert system
• To be online by 2010
• Many universities in the the US have alert
  services since the tragedy at Virginia Tech last
  year
• Commercial Tsunami warning SMS alert services
• cwarn.org / www.tsunami-alarm-system.com

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Why should the Mobile Industry participate?

• Because it re-enforces positive potential of
  technology
• This shows commitment to social responsibility
• Deepens the sense in which customers trust the
  service
• Confirms association between operator brand and
  safety
• Introduces positive images of mobile messaging
• Balances the bad news stories of spam, abuse,
  bullying
• Creates association between device and immediate
  access to valuable data
• As new delivery channels open up, these can be
  used
• MMS for Amber alert
• Location information to refine warnings
• WAP Push for detailed information
• Push-to-Talk to connect emergency responders

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So what are the enablers are needed?

• Burst messaging capability to reach subscribers
  quickly
• Delivery platform that will support thousands of
  deliveries per second
• Network connectivity that will allow this to
  operate without congestion
• Prioritization of Emergency messages over other
  traffic
• Prioritize and deliver emergency messages rapidly
• Maintain some person to person capacity also
• Source alert and warning information from a
  trusted source
• Using per-nation, pan-Caribbean, and global
  sources
• Lists of communities for campus and enterprise
  environments
• Resort or Visitor specific programs
• Create lists from CRM systems
• Notification mechanisms for volunteer responders
  and civil defense
• Use roamer network registration to include
  visitors to the mechanism

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What makes this possible now?

• Network and technology evolution
• Possible to create and maintain significant
  non-commercial capacity
• COTS hardware and IP based Sigtran connectivity
  break traditional barriers
• Campaign Management technologies developed for
  Mobile Marketing
• Reusing the solutions developed for mobile
  marketing for particular application
• Avoid the association with spam and the issues
  of opt-out
• Collecting the data from welcome to roamers
  builds additional lists
• Location technology in the network
• Whether it be GPS based or network timing based
  location is now maturing
• Emergency applications of the technology remove
  privacy barriers
• Public awareness and Government activity
• Many high-profile civil emergencies over the past
  10 years
• Governmental desire both locally and globally to
  be proactive

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Example of Messaging and Location Integration
1) Create an alert list via GUI
2) Target alerts to a specific location (fetch
locations)
SMSC
Campaign Manager
3) After location is selected, opted-in
subscribers are fetched (MSISDNs)
Gateway Mobile Location Centre GMLC
MMSC
4) Push the alerts to the gateway for delivery
WAP Push
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Alternative and Supporting Technologies

• Cell Broadcast
• Suited to getting information out quickly, but
  indiscriminate and limited
• Lack of subscriber awareness and poor experience
  on the device and device may ignore message
• MMS Content delivery for appropriate services
• Enriched information delivery graphics and text
• Enhanced Amber alert to speed the recovery of
  lost children
• Concerns over network congestion in 2.5G networks
• Poor user experience on device and device may be
  configured not to download messages
• Campaign management
• Creation and maintenance of subscriber lists is
  an overhead
• Must ensure that they are not abused and misused
  never mix marketing messages with safety
• Mobile Internet and WAP
• May be a useful supplement to SMS or MMS (links
  embedded in the message additional detail)
• Charging and roaming issues will be barriers to
  easy deployment
• Network capacity issues as with MMS until 3G
  networks in place

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SMS as a tool to address emergencies

• Built from
• Existing, standard products
• Already familiar to the general population
• Uses tools than can be reused for commercial
  purposes when not needed for emergencies
• Simple and effective
• Create a partnership with government agencies
  such as CDERA
• Engage public organizations in the creation and
  management of alert specific lists
• Supported by flexible, high performance
  technologies
• Emergency use above regular licence limits for
  platforms
• Full power of platforms available when needed
• Regionally shared approach through and
  organization such as CANTO possible to manage cost

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Summary

• SMS is an excellent means to support the
  population through a crisis
• People are already using SMS on an ad-hoc basis
  to deal with personal and public emergencies
• So lets capitalize on the tool we have for the
  community's benefit
• To take the theme of this conference
• lets Connect the Caribbean with SMS

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Thank You

• Terry McCabe [phone]
• David Fisher [phone]
• Carlos Guio [phone]