Tap, tap…is this thing on?

So, you’ve downloaded the new Alertable app, you’ve set the location (or locations) to be alerted for, you’re ready (and excited) to start using it and…nothing. “No alerts found for your locations”. You close the app and re-open it. Still the same. Nothing. Zippo. Nada. You’re left feeling at a loss, wondering “is this it??” But no emergency alerts for your area is a good thing, right? That means you, those you care for and your property are safe and not a risk due to any natural or human-induced disasters and hazards in the vicinity. That’s good, right? “Yes but…I expected more when I downloaded this app”.

That can be the reaction when first downloading the Alertable app. Its purpose is to alert you of disasters and hazards so that you may get and stay out of harm’s way. If there are no disasters or hazards in the areas that you have chosen to be alerted for, there’s not much else you can see and do with the app. That doesn’t dismiss the sense of deflation you can feel when using the app for the first time if there are no alerts issued for your chosen locations.

There are different schools of thought around this. There’s the view of keeping things simple and pure. An alerting app is something you use only when there’s an emergency. Like a roadside emergency kit for your vehicle. It’s being responsible to have one but rarely do you bring it out and rummage through it just for the sake of it (aside from occasional inventory checks). Then there’s the view that regular use of an emergency alerting app, regardless of any disasters or hazards, keeps general emergency preparedness front of mind. And being prepared and alert is a good thing. The question then comes what to offer to keep people engaged but also not distracted from the primary purpose of the app in the first place, which is to alert.

This is something that we are assessing with great interest. We’d love to hear your opinion.

Take care. Be prepared.

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