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Design Criteria for Public Emergency Warning Systems |
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Page 7 of 9
multiple platforms / applications
A multiple-channel warning system must interoperate with existing
communications systems that might include voice, fax, email, SMS, iTV,
among others. Warning systems should be able to connect to existing
databases of message recipients, minimising duplication and the chance
of relying on outdated data.
A public warning system should be technically compatible –
interoperable – with as wide a range of databases and communication
systems as possible for two main reasons: to gain maximum effect from
existing systems and infrastructure, and to lower the long-term cost of
system maintenance and development. This holds true whether system
development is carried out in-house, or outsourced.
When warning systems are developed in-house, interoperability increases
the chance a system will be able to take advantage of future
developments in related technologies. Public warning systems are being
improved continuously, around the world; interoperability increases the
chance that an in-house system will integrate with systems representing
the latest best-practice, developed elsewhere and available
off-the-shelf for much less than the cost of bespoke development.
Interoperability also opens the door to selling in-house systems to
other agencies with similar public warning systems needs, and
facilitates several agencies cooperating in the development of a common
public warning system.
When system development is outsourced, interoperability is a means to
preserve independence from 3rd-party systems vendors, which may
otherwise be compromised by proprietary standards and protocols.
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