Data & Stuff // Neil Houston

I received a rather strange phonecall this lunchtime, it was warning me of an incident in Birmingham City Centre, and to avoid certain areas and roads.

It took me a second to realise that I had signed up to the Birmingham Community Alert, I gave them my postcode and mobile number (through a Text), and thought nothing of it.

Thankfully, the incident was a hoax, and all is well. The service then followed up with a Text, as seen to the left, to alert me that all was fine.

Overall I’m really impressed by the service (which is opt-in), and feel comforted by the fact that in the case of disaster/alerts I can be sent information.

The points I’d think might need work thought are:

• Use a recorded ‘real voice’ instead of a ‘text to voice’ system
• Allow the person to replay the message (i.e hit # to listen again)
• What happens when the phone networks jam? (An email would be nice as well)

So overall, job well done to Birmingham Resilience, Birmingham City Council, NHS, Police and Fire services.