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Post by alece10 on Apr 23, 2023 16:20:57 GMT
I wish inhad been somewhere with lots of people like a shopping centre just to hear everyone's phones going off at the same time.
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Post by ruthieh on Apr 23, 2023 16:24:07 GMT
I wish inhad been somewhere with lots of people like a shopping centre just to hear everyone's phones going off at the same time. I was at our local garden centre cafe…it was quite funny! |
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Post by marob on Apr 23, 2023 16:26:05 GMT
I wish inhad been somewhere with lots of people like a shopping centre just to hear everyone's phones going off at the same time. Same. Pity they didn’t have it go off during the football. 10s of thousands of them going off together would be quite something. |
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Post by n1david on Apr 23, 2023 16:26:28 GMT
Entertaining clip from the snooker - not all alerts arrived at the same time (my husband's was 3 minutes after mine, despite being in same car, same phone on same network...)
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Post by londonpostie on Apr 23, 2023 16:28:26 GMT
I imagine you have to have your own phone turned off to enjoy - at least I couldn't have heard anything above my own racket. Probably woke a few up on the trains   |
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Post by theatrefan62 on Apr 23, 2023 17:19:10 GMT
The drama the media and social media are making out of this is ridiculous. No worse than an unexpected call or some other notification. Barely lasted a couple seconds
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 23, 2023 18:18:15 GMT
Mine didn’t go off - rather disappointed!
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Apr 23, 2023 20:26:09 GMT
What a surprise our ex culture secretary now deputy PM didn't think about matinee performances but changed the time so the alarm didn't distrupt a football match. Shouldn’t your phone be turned off at the theatre? |
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Post by n1david on Apr 23, 2023 22:32:24 GMT
Shouldn’t your phone be turned off at the theatre? A lot of people (myself included) put their phones onto silent/do not disturb/theatre mode for a show. Under normal circumstances, my phone will not ring, vibrate, ping or light up during a show, and neither will my watch. Today's alert was an exceptional event in that even if your phone was in silent/do not disturb/theatre mode it would still make a sound at the point of the alert. |
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Post by FairyGodmother on Apr 23, 2023 22:38:02 GMT
I was in the Netherlands and got one. It was a bit eerie, everybody's phone suddenly going off at the same time. It was only a test though. Interesting you got it in the NL, we must have string masts! I'm currently in Spain, didn't get get but wasn't expecting to either m Sorry, I didn't mean today. A couple of years ago I was in the Netherlands and got one, because they were testing their system. |
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Post by lynette on Apr 23, 2023 22:47:33 GMT
Nowt, nada, nothing. Mind you, where I am at the mo, has very poor coverage. Very poor, like none inside where I am staying. So makes you think. The test simply showed upon the tech lackings in the UK.
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Post by marob on Apr 23, 2023 23:29:04 GMT
Yes and that’s the problem. When it was mooted last year it was mentioned that it would only work on 4G or 5G. Lots of places you’re still lucky to get a 3G signal.
Welsh translation was apparently wrong too. But like most Welsh people I can’t understand it so 🤷🏻♂️
Was annoyed earlier at a BBC report mentioning that “some people” think it’s an example the government interfering in people’s lives. Why are they giving voice to internet conspiracy theorists?
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Post by mkb on Apr 23, 2023 23:55:45 GMT
I see some of the press are trying to paint a narrative that it has been a "farce", but the whole reason for having a test is to iron out issues, which I am sure the technical people involved will now do.
The real story here is why it has taken the UK government so long to put an emergency alert system in place. Other countries have had them for over 10 years, and they are a very sensible thing to have.
I was amused by Theatre Monkey's tweet that there should be a test at 19:30 every day to flush out theatregoers with phones still on, but, to be fair, the existence of this scheme now makes it imperative that you don't switch off your phone in the theatre and only silence it, except for during scheduled tests.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Apr 24, 2023 6:43:29 GMT
Shouldn’t your phone be turned off at the theatre? A lot of people (myself included) put their phones onto silent/do not disturb/theatre mode for a show. Under normal circumstances, my phone will not ring, vibrate, ping or light up during a show, and neither will my watch. Today's alert was an exceptional event in that even if your phone was in silent/do not disturb/theatre mode it would still make a sound at the point of the alert. Ah I’m a phone strictly turned off person with a loud announcement pre show to my wife checking she has her phone turned off. Even still, could cancel the alarm if you wanted or wasn’t going to turn phone off completely. Anybody at the theatre yesterday? Phones still going off at 3pm I presume? |
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Post by theatrefan62 on Apr 24, 2023 10:58:35 GMT
The other issue is not everyone has smart devices, including many of the most vulnerable.
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Post by anthony40 on Apr 24, 2023 11:21:10 GMT
I always switch off my phone at night so if World War III breaks out after midnight I'm afraid I won't be available. Same here. 8 hours of straight sleep! |
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 24, 2023 11:37:50 GMT
The other issue is not everyone has smart devices, including many of the most vulnerable. What is the issue exactly? We shouldn’t take advantage of a new technology to send a form of alert that hasn’t been possible before, because some people won’t get it? |
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Post by foxa on Apr 24, 2023 12:00:06 GMT
My husband got the alert and I, two rooms away, didn't. Phone was on, etc., slightly worse reception where I was but still....
Expect a 'Not needed on voyage' message anytime now. :-)
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Post by londonpostie on Apr 24, 2023 12:47:11 GMT
I really don't want a texted evacuation alert - loud or silent - whilst in a theatre, or any indoor environment. Let alone 40 West End theatres all at once, as well as neighbouring pubs and clubs. Examples >> 1943: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35938274
The vibe for me is similar to track and trace - a geeky tech-led initiative with huge real world problems.
Also, timing is everything. This twitches my cynical radar dial. Plenty of news in the past week about Russian ships off the coast and other nefarious activities. Almost as if NATO/the West is about to launch its long-anticipated Spring offensive - turning from defence to attack can be a tricky narrative to sell, and there are articles fed into the mainstream every day now managing that issue.
I'd imagine that's how Mr Putin reads events like this. Probably a good time for him to put troops on the highest alert.
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Post by theatrefan62 on Apr 24, 2023 15:23:24 GMT
The other issue is not everyone has smart devices, including many of the most vulnerable. What is the issue exactly? We shouldn’t take advantage of a new technology to send a form of alert that hasn’t been possible before, because some people won’t get it? I didn't say that, I'm all for it. But you also can't be so flippant, say tough sh*t, and disregard a large portion of society. This is meant to be used for state of emergency after all. Its a bit like when companies answer to everything is to just put everything online. You need a plan for those who dont/can't access smart tech. |
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Post by FairyGodmother on Apr 24, 2023 16:05:52 GMT
I don't really understand why it has to be just smart. I understand that it has to be for the alarm etc to work, but couldn't they also send out a normal SMS?
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Post by n1david on Apr 24, 2023 16:11:16 GMT
The mobile networks can't deal with the volume of an SMS to every phone in the country - they discovered this when they were sending out texts about lockdown in the early days of the pandemic. No reason why they couldn't do an opt-in service for those on non-smart phones that want it. The other issue is that the alert mechanism sends to every 4G/5G phone in the UK, regardless of whether it's a UK subscriber. Most text solutions would send to people who have UK phones as opposed to phones in the UK.
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 24, 2023 17:21:33 GMT
What is the issue exactly? We shouldn’t take advantage of a new technology to send a form of alert that hasn’t been possible before, because some people won’t get it? I didn't say that, I'm all for it. But you also can't be so flippant, say tough sh*t, and disregard a large portion of society. This is meant to be used for state of emergency after all. Its a bit like when companies answer to everything is to just put everything online. You need a plan for those who dont/can't access smart tech. We never had emergency alerts to phones in the UK before. We can now send alerts to all 4G/5G phones (in theory… I didn’t get it!). That doesn’t mean we should also find some alternative method of alerting people without 4G/5G phones. That’s totally illogical. What was the “plan” for everyone before this alert system was launched? Well that’s the plan now for those who can’t receive it! |
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 24, 2023 17:28:36 GMT
I don't really understand why it has to be just smart. I understand that it has to be for the alarm etc to work, but couldn't they also send out a normal SMS? Isn’t it also supposed to be able to alert people in specific areas? How would that work via SMS? This system would just send the signal to all phones within reach of masts in the relevant local area. Not aimed specifically at you, but: In the 50s did people expect the government to buy them TVs because it wasn’t fair that this new technology was available and they couldn’t access it?! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 24, 2023 18:09:47 GMT
It was a test.
That’s TEST.
Meaning (presumably) that they learn from the test and make it work better?
Just an idea 🙂
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