Alcatel-Lucent solution helps service providers turn mobile phones into life savers

Broadcast Message Center solution allows federal, state and local public safety authorities to urgently reach people on the go

Paris - Taking advantage of the most common item people carry with them - a mobile phone – service providers can now support government agencies in immediately contacting citizens to save lives and property in the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, inclement weather or highway accident. Using a new solution created by Alcatel-Lucent that interfaces with the service provider’s intelligent networks, millions of mobile users can be notified within seconds when there is a national, state or local emergency.

Alcatel-Lucent’s Broadcast Message Center (BMC) enables service providers to send targeted government agency text alerts to mobile users based on their location. Similar to the technology used to send an emergency broadcast over cable television, the Broadcast Message Center extends emergency alerting to mobile users within a geographic area as large as a nation or as small as a few city blocks. Hence, the platform ensures critical warnings and information reach the right people at the right time.

“With more than 70 percent of the world population having access to mobile phones, they are the perfect device in an emergency for notifying a maximum number of people in a minimum amount of time,” said Scott Ellison, VP Mobile & Consumer Connected Platforms at IDC. “Leveraging cell broadcast technology, Alcatel-Lucent Broadcast Message Center solution bypasses network congestion that typically accompanies emergencies to immediately deliver warnings of dangers when seconds count and the public’s safety is at risk.”

In advance trials and commercial deployments with a variety of major service providers worldwide, the Broadcast Message Center allows carriers to comply with emergency alerting standards in the United States and Europe to enable emergency management to rapidly disseminate warnings and safety information to citizens. In August, external linkSprint and the California Emergency Management Agency announced they were using Alcatel-Lucent’s Broadcast Messaging Center in a pilot public safety program being conducted in San Diego County. In October, the external link Florida Division of Emergency Management announced Alcatel-Lucent’s Broadcast Message Center was used in a live Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) pilot in the Tampa area.

“With the public increasingly relying on cell phones, it becomes mission critical for service providers to be able to share critical, time-sensitive information over these devices during times of crisis,” said Morgan Wright, Vice President Global Mission Critical Communication Solutions for Alcatel-Lucent. “The Broadcast Message Center enables service providers to do this so that its subscribers can be warned and informed during emergencies.”

Acting as secure interface between an emergency management agency and the service provider’s network, the Broadcast Message Center receives emergency alerts and broadcasts them to cell sites serving mobile customers in a specific geographic area. For instance, targeted text alerts can be sent to:

* Residents threatened by tsunamis, wildfire, tornadoes, floods, etc.
* Students, faculty and parents to inform them of a school or campus emergency
* Consumers and office workers at an airport, shopping mall or business complex to evacuate the location due to a gas leak or suspicious package
* Citizens informing them of an Amber Alert
* Commuters to avoid a chemical spill, highway accident or road closure

Text alerts include a dedicated vibration cadence and audio attention signal for wireless customers with hearing or vision disabilities. The Broadcast Message Center enables service providers to easily manage message and delivery priorities, scheduling and re-transmission needs, which is key in crisis situations.

The flexibility and scalability of the Broadcast Message Center enables service providers to use it beyond emergency alerting for commercial broadcast services. It provides advertisers and interest groups alternative targeted marketing channels, offers enterprises and municipalities an effective means to communicate with their mobile workforce, while also helping service providers offer opt-in subscriber services that generate new sources of revenue.

The rapid advancements in wireless technology make it an important tool for first responders, emergency management and the public during times of crisis. Alcatel-Lucent’s core competence in wireless technology, end-to-end service offerings and defining standards and interface specifications enable it to play a leading role in providing mission critical communication solutions for the public safety sector. For more information about Alcatel-Lucent’s public safety solutions: go to http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/publicsafety

About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: external linkhttp://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.