Sound not for everyone

Test for AT-Alert cell phone warning system successful

The "AT Alert" disaster warning system on a cell phone(Bild: APA/Marie-Theres Fischer)

Along with the annual siren test, the new AT-Alert disaster warning system was triggered for the first time on Saturday - throughout Austria. A loud acoustic signal including a text message in German and English went off twice on the screens of cell phones (see video above).

"Attention test - Austria-wide test triggering of civil defense signals via sirens and test triggering of AT-Alert" was displayed on these cell phones. At the highest level, the alarm could not be silenced. Anyone who did not want to receive the test alert had to put their cell phone in flight mode or switch it off altogether.

Question of the setting
However, the acoustic signal did not go to all cell phones. According to the Ministry of the Interior, this may have something to do with the settings. Sub-items such as "Extreme danger" and "Test warning" can be activated or deactivated in the menu. Older devices (2G/GSM network) can also only receive the highest warning level, i.e. emergency alert. For Android devices, it is necessary to have an up-to-date version of the Google Play application installed.

This is what the test alarm looked like on a cell phone.(Bild: APA/Marie-Theres Fischer)

What is reported
Mobile phones that are registered abroad and are located in Austria can receive the messages.

AT-Alert is intended to supplement the nationwide siren warning system in Austria. Authorities can send regional or nationwide warnings via mobile phone operators. The system is based on cell broadcast technology, an independent message transmission technology. Text messages are sent to cell phones that are logged into the affected area.

A siren in Vienna(Bild: APA/Max Slovencik)

Smartwatches were also included in the test.(Bild: APA/Max Slovencik)

Possible warnings relate to dangers such as extreme weather events, natural disasters, impending floods or forest fires.

The annual nationwide civil protection test alarm took place at the same time as the cell phone warnings on Saturday afternoon. The three signals "Warning", "Alarm" and "All-clear" were broadcast. This time, a total of 8,356 sirens were tested nationwide for their functionality, with 99.43 percent of them showing no problems. This was announced by the Ministry of the Interior in a press release.

There were no failures in the federal states of Burgenland and Vorarlberg. The highest number was in Styria with 22, but 98.28 percent were also in order there.