― Public warning & emergency alerting
Alert Broadcast Centre
(ABC)
Cell Broadcast Public Warning System for Mobile Operators & Governments
Alert Broadcast Centre (ABC) is Enghouse Networks’ public warning solution, enabling mobile network operators to comply with regulatory requirements for targeted mobile alerting. ABC comprises a campaign manager that supports the creation, scheduling and geographic targeting of public alerting campaigns, with interfaces for authorised parties — governments, regulators, or the operator itself — to configure and launch them.
― Statutory obligations
Why public warning systems are a priority right now
The UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative — led jointly by GSMA and ITU — targets universal early-warning coverage by 2027, backed by a growing industry pledge and active national deployments. In the EU, the Electronic Communications Code (Article 110) has required every member state to operate a mobile-based public warning system since 21 June 2022.
Who ABC is for
Built for operator-grade public alerting
Public warning use cases
Standards & conformance
ABC is built to named, published standards across messaging, cell broadcast and national alerting interfaces — so conformance can be checked directly against your national requirements.
| Category | Standard(s) |
|---|---|
| SMS alphabets | GSM 03.38; 3GPP 23.038 (Releases 5, 6, 9) |
| SMS | GSM 03.40; 3GPP 23.040 (Releases 5–9) |
| UCS2 | ISO/IEC 10646 |
| SMPP | Versions 3.3, 3.4, 5.0 |
| SNMP | v1, v2c, v3 |
| Cell Broadcast | 3GPP TS 23.041; 3GPP TS 29.168 |
| WPAS (Canada) | NTRE055CI WPAS C-Interface Specification; NAADS Wireless Public Alerting Information Guide v1.0 |
| WEA / CMAS (USA) | J-STD-101; ATIS-0700008 (CBE-to-CBC interface) |
| OASIS | Common Alerting Protocol v1.2 |
| ETSI | ETSI TS 102 900 V1.3.1 |
Proven in the field
― Alert Broadcast Centre FAQ
Questions about public warning and Cell Broadcast
Alert Broadcast Centre
Yes. ABC supports OpenStreetMap, which is stored and accessed locally, so map-based targeting doesn’t depend on an internet connection. Google Maps is also available where a licensed, always-current map is preferred; it requires a connection.
Yes. Priority, start time, end time and duration are configurable per campaign. Campaigns start immediately by default, and a scheduled start is available for non-urgent use such as planned road works.
ABC supports geo-fencing: once a target area is defined, automatic messages can be sent to any device that crosses into or out of that area — extending the reach of an alert as the at-risk population moves.
Yes. Message text can be entered in Latin or UCS2 encoding, which covers non-Latin scripts, and binary messages are supported in hexadecimal mode. SMS alerts longer than 140 bytes are automatically split into segments, with the segment count shown to the user.
No. The Cell Broadcast standard does not include delivery confirmation. Where confirmation is needed, ABC can send alerts by SMS, which includes tracking of who received the message.
Within the US WEA (formerly CMAS) reference architecture, ABC performs the function of the CMSP Gateway, receiving alerts from the Federal Alert Gateway via the C-Interface. Within the Canadian WPAS reference architecture, ABC performs the function of the WSP Gateway, receiving alerts from the NAAD System via the WPAS C-Interface.
ABC runs in a hot-standby configuration on redundant hardware. A single IP address is presented externally, with automatic failover to the standby node if the primary fails. All software processes are continuously monitored and restarted on failure, with alarms raised via SNMP trap or email.
SMS sends to registered numbers, is not inherently location-based, and can be delayed by network congestion. Cell Broadcast targets handsets by cell location over a dedicated high-priority channel separate from voice and SMS traffic, and generally imposes a much lighter network load — which is why it continues to function during the congestion that often follows a disaster.
A 3GPP mobile network technology that broadcasts alerts to every compatible device in a defined area at once, without needing phone numbers or a data connection.
Role-based administration separates system administrators from alert managers. Alert managers can only launch campaigns within the dates, times and broadcast rates the administrator has defined. Every configuration change is logged with login name, date, time and source IP, and the log can be searched and exported to CSV.
