Global Security Systems said Broward and Miami-Dade Counties are the first two counties in Florida to have access to its FM radio-based emergency alert and messaging system.
WRTO at 98.3 MHz, WLRN at 91.3 and WAMR at 107.5 are participating in southern Florida.
The company’s Matt Straeb stated that residents in those counties will be able to receive emergency information from local emergency operation centers where the system is being tested, as well as National Weather Service severe weather warnings and Federal Emergency Management Agency alerts through portable Alert FM receivers.
The company is working with an organization called America’s Emergency Network; the organizations hope to create a comprehensive national emergency communication system. AEN was designed by CBS News Hurricane Analyst Bryan Norcross and former National Hurricane Director Max Mayfield.
GSS pitches the FM infrastructure of its system as a big benefit. “The reliability and redundancy of Alert FM lies in its use of a pre-existing network of FM towers, which in turn provides overlapping coverage of an area. The Alert FM receivers automatically tune themselves to the strongest FM signal in their current locations,” GSS says.
Separately, AEN this week is showing a working version of its proprietary technology at the Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference, aiming to pitch emergency managers and other public officials on the ability to send video news briefings and text messages to the public and the media during emergencies using streaming video and a central database.
