CMAS stands for “Commercial Mobile Alert System” and if you use it correctly, you will identify that it is a lifesaver. CMAS is a key technology that has a wide range of significance in your life.
CMAS is a segment of an extensive emergency alert facility that comes in your mobile devices. It can send messages to almost all mobile phones at the same moment, majorly for public safety.. However, it works within a specific geographical region.
You need a CMAS Consumer Cellular phone to start using this feature. Let’s have a brief look at CMAS and its importance in 2023.
Introduction to CMAS Consumer Cellular
CMAS is also known as the “Personal Localized Alerting Network ” which will permit you to get geographically-targeted text messages. Moreover, these messages help you to get alerts for threats around your region.
As mentioned above, CMAS-enabled mobile phones will ensure that emergency warnings will not get stuck in large congested regions. During any emergency, users of CMAS will get instant mobile texting and voice services.
CMAS goes with the existing “Emergency Alert System” at the federal level by media service providers and broadcasters. In addition, CMAS helps government officials send an emergency notice or warnings to particular geographic regions through cell towers. It pushes the data to assigned receivers in CMAS Consumer Cellular phones.
Most wireless service providers volunteer to take part in CMAS. If you want this technology to get a safety alert, you need a CMAS-activated phone.
CMAS alerts only cover vital emergency warnings. If you are a CMAS customer, you will get only 3 types of warnings:
- Amber Alert
- Warnings involving imminent threats to life or safety
- Warnings issued by the President
Check out how CMAS functions in CMAS Consumer Cellular phones.
Work of CMAS on Your Mobile Phone
You have often seen government officials alert the public regarding natural disasters or terrorist threats. If any security threat or tornado is forecasted in your region, authorized government officials quickly send alerts to CMAS.
After getting public safety alerts, CMAS authenticates the alert and verifies the authorization of the sender. After verification, it sends the alert to wireless carriers who participated in CMAS.
Wireless carriers push those alerts from CMAS consumer cellular towers to mobile phones in the affected region. The alert will come to you in the form of text messages on your phone.
The emergency alerts are geographically aimed. So, if you are living in Dubai and would not get any alerts about a threat in Abu Dhabi. However, if you visit Abu Dhabi on that same day, you would get that alert.
Facts about CMAS
Let’s go through some facts about CMAS and its importance in your life:
- You don’t have to pay additional charges for CMAS since it is free.
- Being a customer, you are signed up to CMAS automatically. In other words, people who use CMAS Consumer Cellular phones are not required to sign up for this service.
- If you are using a prepaid phone, you can also get CMAS alerts since your provider has CMAS participation. Additionally, you can get CMAS alerts with monthly or postpaid service too.
- CMAS cannot locate a user getting a CMAS alert since it is not designed for location tracking.
- CMAS alerts are passed on using individual technology. It is different from SMS text messages and voice calls.
- Some mobile devices only need software updates to get CMAS alerts. While in other cases, a customer may need to buy a new CMAS Consumer Cellular phone.
- If you are a CMAS customer, you should check your wireless carrier about the CMAS-enabled handset availability.
Why is CMAS Important?
The idea of getting emergency data to the public in a particular geographic area is a revolutionary concept. The capability to instant support an entire society during any danger has been a huge advantage to public safety. Moreover, it is useful for natural disasters and weather alerts.
The number of people saved by pushing a CMAS Consumer Cellular alert out to an area at once is almost limitless. CMAS can easily alert limitless audiences during any emergency in an area.
However, there is always an eternal issue of CMAS to think about when it comes to mass communication. So, let’s get a close look at the annoyances of CMAS.
CMAS Consumer Cellular – Annoyances
Any alert transmitted through CMAS is going to be of utmost importance to every recipient. Many users only identify CMAS after trying to see why they are receiving alerts about an event. In addition, the CMAS system is as genuine as the groups or people in control of it.
You may find it quite common. For instance, CMAS alerts about fire may go out to customers who stay 1 or 2 nations away from the potential danger. Possibly, a fire might increase that far, but finally unlikely. The responsible authority for that CMAS alert might be going through a policy that orders them to act in as aware a manner as possible.
However, CMAS is often disturbing for busy recipients when their mobile keeps alerting them about a fire in another city. Moreover, the alerts automatically appear at a mobile’s higher volume setting. Now, due to these annoyances, some users want to disable CMAS on their mobile. So, if you want to disable CMAS Consumer Cellular alerts on your phone, check out how you can turn it off.
How can You Disable CMAS on your Mobile Phone?
Although CMAS can be useful, many users just find themselves wondering how they can disable it or turn it off. It is particularly valid for Android or iOS which is not a cellphone actually.
Here are the steps to disable CMAS Consumer Cellular alerts on your phone.
- First, go to messages and then select the “Options” menu.
- Scroll down the screen and find “Emergency Alerts” and tap it to open.
- Select “Wireless Emergency Alerts” and then tap on “Options” again.
- Under the option, select “Settings” and toggle the switch into the off position.
Now, all you have to do is remove all messages before the CMAS alert will disappear from your phone.
Final Verdict
CMAS Consumer Cellular alert is quite critical as many users have stopped using land phones altogether. While the system is well-developed and effective on the transmission side, CMAS comes as a built-in feature in smartphones. Surprisingly, it means that citizens in rural regions or remote areas would be less likely to get CMAS alerts. In this case, CMAS participant carriers have built the needed capabilities into the SIM card workable in all network conditions.
