Sage Alerting Systems now has released the important Rev 96 firmware update for the Sage ENDEC. Users of those EAS boxes in the United States will need to install it by March 11.
“This provides support for the new FCC rules on CAP prioritization, and text for national alerts,” the company said. “It also includes updates to digital certificates used to verify FEMA CAP alerts.” Sage says it has also added several features including login/out audit logs, emailing of weekly alert conformance reports and several usability improvements.
Sage users had been given an extension by the FCC to comply with the requirement that participants in the Emergency Alert System, including broadcast stations, prioritize the Common Alerting Protocol-formatted version of an EAS message when they receive both a CAP and legacy version of the same alert.
The update, available from Sage dealers, costs $159 and must be installed by March 11 for users to remain compliant with FCC rules.
“Any Model 3644 Sage Digital ENDEC originally purchased new from dealer stock after Dec. 12, 2021 is eligible for a free Rev96 update. This includes serial numbers B418750 to B429999. Once you have purchased an update, or if your serial number is in the free range of B418750 through B429999, you can go to the download page here and follow the steps.
You must have Rev95 installed before you can install Rev96,” the company wrote in an email to users.
The release also includes replacements for security certificates expiring in mid-April 2024, and support for new certs to be issued starting April 1. These are used by FEMA to allow EAS devices to validate alerts.
In addition to the required changes, Rev 96 includes several usability features, including automated emailing of conformance reports, required alert summaries and the full log each week.
“This will reduce the amount of time needed to acquire and review the log data, and reduce the number of people that need to access the ENDEC. This will help to further highlight compliance issues such as failure to receive RWTs and RMTs, and to send RWTs and relay RMTs,” the company said.
Further details are at http://www.sagealertingsystems.com.
