Government and civic officials traditionally have relied on television and radio spots to communicate emergency information to the public. Not only is this audio-only method chancy, it ignores newer technologies.

Sandia National Laboratories has designed and deployed an alert and warning system that provides a more robust, multifaceted path to help ensure effective public communications during a federal, state, or local emergency.

The system, called the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System was launched in a pilot program Aug. 1 during the 2007 hurricane season to support several states and local jurisdictions along the Gulf Coast.

IPAWS was designed to create a rapid and effective means by which authorities address or warn the public over a broad range of communications devices and under any conditions. The system, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, transforms national emergency alerts from audio only messages delivered over radios and televisions into a sophisticated, comprehensive system that can reliably and efficiently send alerts by voice, text, and video to all Americans, including those with disabilities or who cannot understand English.

The current federal alert system, known as the Emergency Alert System, has been in place since 1994, replacing the Emergency Broadcast System that launched in 1963. EAS allows the president to transmit a national alert within 10 minutes to residents. It also allows state and local government officials to send messages during non-federal emergencies.

IPAWS includes deployment of an enhanced Web Alert and Relay Network that provides emergency operations staff with collaboration tools, public access web sites, and alert and warning notification facilities. WARN also features an “opt in” capability that allows residents to sign up to receive alert messages via pagers, cell phones, e-mail and more.

The WARN system also includes an Emergency Telephone Notification component that provides automated calling of all residents in a selected geographic area, and a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Notification System that provides information to the hearing impaired using American Sign Language videos on the Internet and on personal communication devices.