Everbridge, Vodafone Test Germany’s Emergency Alert System

Everbridge, Inc., the global enabler in critical event management (CEM) and national public warning software solutions, has announced the successful testing of Germany’s nationwide emergency alerting system.

Everbridge Public Warning Cell Broadcast technology, in partnership with leading Mobile Network Operator Vodafone, and three out of four MNOs, provided the key technology components of Germany’s nationwide rebroadcasting emergency alerting system.

The federal and state governments jointly prepare the nationwide warning day, which takes place annually, every second Thursday in September, in coordination with municipal representatives. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) is responsible at the federal level.

At 11:00 a.m. CEST on September 14, a test warning in the form of a message was sent to all warning multipliers (e.g. radio stations and app servers) connected to the federal government’s modular warning system (MoWaS), including the cell broadcasting system by Everbridge.

“We are pleased to be part of this important milestone and support Germany on the evolution of its national warning system,” said Valerie Risk, Vice President, Public Safety International at Everbridge. “Every nation can benefit from a modern platform that reaches all citizens in times of crisis. Our Public Warning solution enables government organizations to immediately connect with every person in an affected area during a critical event regardless of nationality, residency or mobile handset type.”

Vodafone issued the following statement, “The new Cell Broadcast disaster warning system was subjected to a nationwide load test for the first time since its introduction in February 2023 at the nationwide warning day on September 14, 2023. From Vodafone’s perspective, this was a complete success. At 10:59 a.m. – one minute earlier than announced – all mobile phone stations active in the Vodafone network reliably sent the BBK’s test warning to the receiving devices – across all network technologies GSM, 4G and 5G. The test warning was thus delivered in an area where more than 99 percent of Germany’s population live and work. The warning day on September 14, 2023 showed that the new warning system works very reliably even when broadcast nationwide via the Vodafone network.”

The German public safety system enables all federal authorities responsible for public warning alerts to reach people quickly during national emergencies such as health crises, terror attacks, industrial incidents, earthquakes, and flooding. Powered by Everbridge’s industry-leading Public Warning technology, the German cell broadcasting alerting system has been created to target mobile phones of residents and visitors present in the area impacted by an emergency.

Everbridge, in partnership with Vodafone and other MNOs, implemented Cell Broadcast technology as a complementary warning channel for the BBK in 2022.

Everbridge Public Warning leverages existing telecom infrastructure, with no opt-in required, to reach everyone within a geographic area to reduce disaster risk, support first responder communications, and analyze disaster communication effectiveness for subsequent mitigation activities. The platform is fully compliant with data privacy regulations including GDPR and allows public safety agencies to send an alert to any device within a few seconds without sharing any personal details, such as names or phone numbers.