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Is SMS Ready for SOS?

Is SMS Ready for SOS?. Terry McCabe. Airwide Solutions. Market leader in next generation mobile messaging and mobile internet infrastructure, applications and solutions Developing innovative, high-performance messaging solutions since 1992

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Is SMS Ready for SOS?

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  1. Is SMS Ready for SOS? Terry McCabe

  2. 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. Madrid Dubai Bangkok Jakarta Global Presence – Local Experience Espoo Reading Montreal Burlington Gurgaon Atlanta Kuala Lumpur Singapore Johannesburg Sydney Santiago

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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 let’s capitalize on the tool we have for the community's benefit… • To take the theme of this conference… • lets “Connect the Caribbean” with SMS

  16. Thank You Terry McCabe (416) 830 8117 David Fisher (404) 402 4900 Carlos Guio (416) 618 1372

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