Global Security Systems Expands ALERT FM Technology to Commercial Mobile Alerts
 Making Potentially Life-Saving Mobile Technology a Reality

FCC Rules and Order provides for
Alternative Technologies to Meet CMAS Voluntary Standard for Mobile Industry

Rural Cellular Association Business and Technical Conference, October 13, 2010 – Today, Global Security Systems (GSS), makers of ALERT FM, announced that they are expanding their FM radio-based alerting technology to provide cellular carriers with a Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) solution.  ALERT FM is a powerful public safety tool that allows emergency management officials to rapidly disseminate warnings and safety information in the form of text alerts to FM radio-enabled wireless phones based on their specified locations.

The ALERT FM system utilizes Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) technology over the existing nationwide and redundant FM radio infrastructure to allow rapid dissemination of emergency alert messages to citizenry based on geographic or organizational groupings.  ALERT FM can target FM-enabled devices in a single building, a football arena, or the entire country.

FM Radio Receiver Chips in Cell Phones will make CMAS a reality.
Today’s announcement marks a milestone in the implementation of CMAS, a national program established by the FCC in response to the Warning, Alert and Response (WARN) Act passed by Congress in 2006.  GSS representatives served on the CMAS Advisory Committee that developed the standards for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  FM RBDS was determined by the Committee to be a suitable alternative technology solution to satisfy CMAS standard requirements and was highlighted in a letter from Chairman of the FCC Julius Genachowski in a letter to Congress, http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7020400152.

In times of disaster when cellular networks become overloaded, FM radio’s single-point to multiple-point transmission assures the delivery of critical information to a vast number of FM-enabled devices simultaneously.  
• The CMAS network, part of the Integrated Public Alert Warning (IPAWS) framework, will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to accept and aggregate alerts from the President of the United States, imminent danger, Amber Alerts.
• GSSNet will receive the CMAS alerts from local, state, and federal agencies and transmit them to FM radio towers that broadcast the alerts to mobile customers with FM-enabled handsets within a specified targeted area. 
• GSS has the capability to send up to 240-character text messages -- exceeding the minimum required 90 characters -- plus real-time audio emergency information.
• FM-enabled devices can roam like a cell phone, scanning for new signals as they move from tower to tower.

CMAS technology is comparable to emergency alerts currently delivered via cable television or disseminated to citizens through calls to their wired phones. The ALERT FM technology, however, will send emergency text messages to FM-enabled mobile phones with the added advantage of targeting a defined geographic area (click here to view FM broadcast coverage area map).

CMAS, including GSS’s ALERT FM, potentially could save lives during an emergency.
CMAS will provide emergency management professionals with expanded options in a variety of emergency situations.  Currently, more than 35 million people in 14 states have access to ALERT FM technology.  ALERT FM has been implemented at the university, state, county, and multi-county levels.

GSS recently participated in an RBDS study funded by FEMA and conducted by Northrop Grumman that validated the effectiveness of ALERT FM technology for emergency alerts by state and local government agencies. The company signed a cooperation agreement to provide nationwide coverage of FM radio alerts, http://www.alertfm.com/ServiceLocator.aspx.   In addition to conserving battery life, ALERT FM “wakes up” the FM-enabled device when an emergency alert message is delivered.

About Global Security Systems and ALERT FM:
Global Security Systems (GSS) is a systems integrator, service provider, and manufacturer of the ALERT FM and GSSNet satellite delivery system.  Global Security Systems has participated in the development of IPAWS-based systems, is a member of the Commercial Mobile Alert Service systems committee, and is actively involved with several EAS and CAP committees.  The Global Security Systems nationwide GSSNet satellite delivery system for emergency alerts currently is in operation now at over 450 locations and growing daily.  It includes the ability to generate and deliver CAP messages.

Media Contact:
Renee Cassis
646-808-6505
cassis2@msn.com

http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/systemenhancements.shtm

CMAS PR v.6 w-logo-1.pdf (330.90 kb)