Beyond the Tone: Innovations in Alerting

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In this final chapter of our special series, The Story Behind EAS, Tyler Woodward explores how emergency alerting is moving beyond familiar tones and crawls into a new era of rich data and smarter delivery. From the Common Alerting Protocol to NextGen TV, the systems that warn us are becoming faster, more precise, and more connected than ever.

You’ll hear how artificial intelligence is helping emergency managers detect threats in real time and how social media is reshaping the way alerts spread through communities. We also look ahead to a future where your phone, car, and smart devices all work together to keep you informed.

Whether you work in broadcasting or you’re simply curious about the systems that protect us, this episode will leave you with a clearer understanding of how technology is transforming emergency communication.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Have you ever wondered if the loud emergency
tones interrupting your show arestuck in the past?
Probably not.
What if the next generation ofalerts could find you instantly
On your phone, your TV, yoursmart speaker, maybe even your
car?
Today we're looking ahead tosee how the emergency alert

(00:24):
system is evolving and what itmeans for all of us.
Hey, tyler Woodward here.

(01:03):
I'm a certified broadcastnetworking technologist, thanks
to the Society of BroadcastEngineers, and I've spent my
career figuring out how to getsignals from point A to point B.
This is Fully Modulated wheresignal meets podcast.
Today marks the final episode ofour series the Story Behind EAS
.
Today marks the final episodeof our series the Story Behind

(01:25):
EAS.
Over the past episodes we'veexplored where the emergency
alert system came from, how itworks and how broadcasters and
emergency managers keep itrunning.
Now we're stepping into thefuture.
We'll look at how technologieslike the Common Alerting

(01:48):
Protocol are transforming theway warnings are sent.
We'll talk about how artificialintelligence, social media and
advanced data networks arereshaping emergency
communication and what it meansfor your safety.
By the end you'll understandwhere alerts are headed and how
you can stay prepared astechnology continues to evolve.

(02:09):
But first the disclaimer FullyModulated, is an independent
podcast and website.
It isn't affiliated with,endorsed by or represents any
radio or television station,media company or broadcast
network.
All opinions expressed here aremine and mine alone.

(02:51):
Let's start with the big shifthappening behind the scenes and
the move from legacy alertingsystems to digital protocols.
For decades, emergency alertsin the US relied on analog audio
tones, relayed station tostation like a giant game of
telephone.
Those systems worked, but theyhad limitations they couldn't

(03:13):
always target specific regionsand they weren't designed for
mobile devices.
Enter the Common AlertingProtocol, or CAP.
Enter the Common AlertingProtocol, or CAP.
Cap is an XML-based data formatthat allows alert originators,
like the National WeatherService or local emergency

(03:34):
managers, to create a singlealert message.
That alert message can betranslated into text, audio,
images and even video.
Imagine a tornado warning.
A CAT message cansimultaneously send a text to
your phone, a crawl across yourTV screen, audio over your radio

(03:56):
, pop-ups on highway signs andupdates to apps and websites.
This data-rich approach is ahuge leap forward.
Leap forward.
Instead of every system havingits own format and workflow, cap
provides a standard to everyone, and well, one that everyone

(04:16):
can understand.
The Federal EmergencyManagement Agency began
requiring CAP compliance forbroadcasters back in 2012.
But the technology continues toimprove.
Cap can support multilingualalerts, rich media and
geo-targeting down to specificneighborhoods.

(04:37):
One example you might have seenis the Wireless Emergency
Alerts, or WEA, that pop-up onyour phone.
Those are built on CAP messages.
In recent years, the characterlimit has increased and the
targeting has become much moreprecise.
The takeaway Well, cap lays thegroundwork for smarter, more

(05:02):
flexible alerts, ones that meetthe people where they are.

(05:23):
Let's zoom out and see howemerging technologies are
pushing alerts even further.
One area gaining momentum isartificial intelligence.
Emergency managers andbroadcasters are experimenting
with AI tools to automaticallydetect severe weather patterns,
generate warning language,quickly identify false alarms
before they spread.

(05:44):
For example, some AI models canprocess satellite and radar
data in real time, spottingstorm signatures that would take
a human longer to analyze.
In a situation where secondsmatter, that speed can save
lives.

(06:05):
Then there's social media.
Then there's social media.
While official alerts stillcome through authorized channels
, platforms like Twitter or X,facebook and Instagram have
become essential amplifiers.
When a WEA message goes out,local agencies often post the
same information on social media, where it can be shared and

(06:29):
discussed instantly.
But this also createschallenges.
Misinformation can spread justas fast as facts.
One fascinating innovation isthe idea of crowdsourced
confirmation.
Some emergency operationscenters monitor hashtags and
geo-targeted posts to validatereports of damage or power

(06:54):
outages, which can help refinethe official response.
Another trend to watch is theintegration of Internet of
Things devices.
Imagine your smart thermostatflashing a warning or your car's
dashboard displaying evacuationinstructions.
Automakers and tech companiesare already testing these

(07:17):
systems In some pilot programs.
Vehicles receive CAP messagesover cellular networks and
display real-time alerts.
But all this technologyrequires robust infrastructure,
funding and training.
Smaller broadcasters andemergency managers sometimes
struggle to keep up with thepace of change.

(07:38):
So while the future ispromising, it's also uneven.
Some communities are ahead ofthe curve, while others rely on
more traditional systems.
The bottom line technology israpidly expanding the reach and
accuracy of emergency alerts,but to human judgment and clear

(08:02):
communication remains anabsolute, essential part of the
system.
Let's run through a few thingsyou can do to stay ready as
alerts evolve.
Number 1.
Enable wireless emergencyalerts on your phone.

(08:23):
It sounds obvious, I know, butsome people disable them without
even realizing it In yourphone's settings.
Make sure amber and emergencyalerts are turned on.
Number two follow trusted localsources on social media, your
county's emergency managementoffice or local meteorologist

(08:44):
will often share accurate,timely updates.
Number three invest in a NOAAweather radio.
Even with all this new tech, abattery-powered radio remains a
reliable backup if cell networksgo down.
4.
Understand your area's alertingsystems.
Each county or state might haveslightly different protocols

(09:08):
and channels.
Check your local emergencymanagement website for details.
Alright, a little listener Q&A.
Here's the question I get.
If everything is going digital,will traditional broadcast

(09:30):
alerts eventually disappear?
And while cap and digitaldelivery are the future, the FCC
still requires broadcasters tomaintain their EAS equipment and
participate in regular tests.
Many engineers, includingmyself, see over-the-air alerts
as a vital safety net wheninternet or cell service fail.

(09:53):
In other words, traditionalbroadcast alerting isn't going
anywhere anytime soon.

(10:13):
Closer look at one of the mostpromising developments NextGen
TV, also known as ATSC 3.0.
Nextgen TV is the lateststandard for over-the-air
television broadcasting.
Among other features like 4Kresolution and better audio, it
has powerful capabilities foremergency alerting.

(10:36):
Because ATSC 3.0 is an IP-basedsystem, it can deliver rich
multimedia alerts directly toyour TV or set-top box.
Well, in layman terms, thatmeans hyper-local warnings
tailored to your address, mapsand evacuation routes on screen,
multiple audio languages,interactive features so you can

(11:01):
get more details In pilotprograms.
Nextgen TV has shown it canreach viewers faster, with
clearer information thantraditional EAS crawls with
clearer information thantraditional EAS crawls.
Imagine you're watching a showand an evacuation order appears
not just as text but with avoice in your language that you

(11:22):
understand, a map of yourneighborhood and a scannable QR
code linking you to resources.
Of course, next-gen TV adoptionis still in progress.
Not every station or householdhas capable equipment yet, but
as broadcasters upgradetransmitters and viewers replace
TVs, the reach will expand.

(11:44):
This is where the future getsexciting.
Combining CAP next-gen TV,combining CAP, nextgen TV, wea
and IoT devices all create aseamless multi-platform alerting
ecosystem.
Your takeaway the alerts oftomorrow will be faster, clearer

(12:05):
and harder to ignore, andthat's a good thing when lives
are on the line.
So today we explored the futureof emergency alerting, from
CAP's data-rich messages toAI-driven detection, social

(12:29):
media amplification and thepromise of next-gen TV.
One of the other things that wedidn't discuss in this series
is how there's talks right nowin the industry to place eas in
the cloud.
Maybe we'll do a bonus episodeor a standalone episode on that
subject, coming up in a fewweeks.

(12:50):
This also wraps it up for thestory behind EAS.
I hope you've enjoyed learninghow emergency alerts work, where
they come from and where,hopefully, things are headed.
If you take one thing away, letit be this the systems that
protect us are evolving fast,but the basics trustworthy

(13:14):
information, information,preparation and community are as
important as ever.
Next time, we'll explore howbroadcast engineers are
preparing for the unexpected,whether it's natural disasters,
cyber attacks or just thechallenges of keeping the air

(13:43):
Fully.
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FullyModulatedcom to learn moreand become a supporter today.
We'll see you next time.