There will soon be a new feature at the top of the Send Alert and Send Poll forms to allow Administrators to properly classify their alert.
This change is an important part of regulatory compliance with regard to non-emergency phone calls and to allow proper classification of alerts. A new section will appear at the top of all alert forms to choose if your message is Emergency or Non-Emergency. This will be applied automatically to all forms once the change is released.
Non-Emergency will be the default priority and will automatically select any default delivery methods (text, email, mobile app). Emergency selection will automatically select all default delivery methods and add all voice options.
If you intend to send an ETN (calls to landlines) using the mapping tool, Emergency priority must be selected since those phone numbers have not opted-in to receive alerts. The FCC makes an exception for Emergencies.
A warning will appear at the top of the alert form notifying the administrator of this automatic change before the message can be sent.
If the message is changed to non-emergency after the map selection has been created, a message will appear at the top of the alert form notifying the administrator that ETN has been disabled under Delivery Methods.
Administrators with certain permissions will be able to customize the default options for both Non-Emergency and Emergency classification using Alert Defaults Settings. In this section, delivery methods can be customized for each priority.
