eBulletin Integrated Public Alert and Warning System 

Volume 2, Issue 1 – FEBRUARY 2012 

 

 

 


CMAS TESTING IN NYC 

 


On December 15, 2011, the U.S. Department of 
Homeland Security Science and Technology 
Directorate (S&T) partnered with the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the 
New York City Office of Emergency Manage-
ment (OEM), and participating wireless carriers 
to conduct an initial test of the Commercial 
Mobile Alert Service (CMAS), also known as 
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), across New 
York City’s five boroughs. The New York City 
test verified end-to-end connectivity of CMAS, 
and was specifically designed to examine the 
following points of alert delivery: 

 

1. Origination of a Common Alerting Protocol 
(CAP) message 
2. Authentication of this message through the 
Federal Alert Aggregator, also known as the 
IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency 
Networks (IPAWS-OPEN) 
3. Delivery of the message through 
participating Commercial Mobile Service 
Provider Gateways 
4. Dissemination of the message to mobile 
devices 


The completion of this initial CMAS test helped 
test participants develop recommendations to 
inform future tests and CMAS deployment in 
April 2012. Throughout 2012, FEMA and S&T 
will partner on CMAS testing across the Nation. 
Future tests will focus on gaps and 
recommendations identified in previous tests, 
localities’ ability to successfully incorporate and 
use CMAS, variations in user experience, and 
areas for improvement. 

 

To learn more about CMAS testing activities, 
join the “Alerts and Warnings” group on DHS 

 

 

 

S&T’s First Responder Communities of Practice 
website:https://communities.firstresponder.gov/web/guest. 

 

 

CMAS Forum 

DHS S&T will host a CMAS Forum in 
conjunction with the International 
Wireless Communications Expo, on 
February 21, at the Las Vegas 
Convention Center, Room S226, from 
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM PST. 

 

For more information, including how to 
register, please contact 
CMAS_Forum@sra.com. 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW IPAWS MONITORING 
REQUIREMENT 

 


In its recent Fifth Report and Order pertaining 
to the review of the Emergency Alert System 
(EAS), the Federal Communications Commission 
has ruled that EAS participants must monitor 
FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning 
System (IPAWS) for alerts formatted according 
to Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) 
specifications. EAS participants include radio 
and television broadcast stations, cable 
systems, wireline video systems, wireless cable 
systems, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service 
providers, and digital audio radio service 
(SDARS) providers. 

 

The new rules go into effect 30 days after 
publication in the Federal Register; however, 
the current deadline for participants to deploy 
operational equipment capable of acquiring 

 

CAP-formatted messages remains unchanged at 
June 30, 2012. 


 

The new rule regarding IPAWS monitoring will 
be encoded at 47 CFR 11.52 (d) (2). The rule will 
not require any specific delivery technology, 
since, as noted in the Report and Order, “The 

technical parameters of the IPAWS system are 
still evolving -- and the digital world in which 

that system operates is evolving faster still.” 
The FCC concluded, “Trying to keep up with 
these changes while specifying the technical 
requirements for federal CAP monitoring in the 
Part 11 rules is neither practical nor admin-
istratively efficient.” 

 

FEMA currently uses a dedicated Atom 
Syndication Format feed that can be 
periodically polled by EAS encoder/decoder 
equipment. EAS participants are required to 
interrupt normal programming for Emergency 
Action Notifications (EAN) and Required 
Monthly Tests (RMT) for their State or 
State/county location. 

 

Further information regarding the IPAWS CAP 
feed may be found at: 
http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/cap_feed.shtm 

 

THOUSANDS TAKE IPAWS TRAINING 
COURSE 

 


The IPAWS training course (IS-247) launched in 
December of 2011. Since then over 2,000 
people have completed the course. 

 

The course is a requirement to alert through 
IPAWS, however, because it offers training 
about alerts and warnings, many people find it 

useful regardless of whether they are public 
safety officials or alerting authorities. 

For information about the course, visit FEMA’s 
website at: 
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is247.asp 

 

 

SIGN UP FOR IPAWS 

 


There is an easy four step process for 
emergency management organizations that 
want to sign up to alert the public through 
IPAWS. 

 

STEP 1 - Have IPAWS compatible alerting 
software in place. 

 

STEP 2 - Complete a Memorandum of 
Agreement with FEMA which governs system 
security. 

 

STEP 3 – Apply for specific public alerting 
permissions in accordance with existing State 
and local operational plans. 

 

STEP 4 – Complete the free IPAWS on-line 
training course. 

 

For more information about the application 
process, visit: 
http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/ 
alerting_authorities.shtm 

Meet the IPAWS Team 

You can learn more about IPAWS at 
these upcoming conferences: 

 

National Association of Broadcasters – 
April 14-19, 2012, Las Vegas 

National Radiological Emergency 
Preparedness Conference – April 23-26, 
2012, St. Paul, MN 

CTIA International Association for 
Wireless Telecommunications Annual 
Conference—May 7-10, 2012, New 
Orleans, LA 

Governor’s Hurricane Conference – May 
13 - 18, 2012, Ft. Lauderdale, FL