Bg-Alert tests are disabled by default in the settings of most smartphones. Therefore, almost no one was notified on October 17, when the fire department had tests of the early warning system.
They had to be done already on October 1, testing the sirens as well. In the previous days, however, tensions began to escalate in the Middle East, pagers and radio stations were blown up, and the tests in our country were postponed in order not to instill fear among the population. On October 1, Israel’s military operation in Lebanon began.
So it was decided that Bg-alert tests would be done on October 17, but without sirens. Already on Monday, the fire department in charge of the system warned that in order for people to receive the trial test message, they had to make an additional setting on their smartphones. For example, in those with iOS – iPhones and iPads, in “Notifications” the users is had to manually to give permission to receive test messages. In the factory settings, everything else is on, but the test is set to off. It’s the same with the Android operating system. In both leading operating systems, the “Serious Danger”, “Information” and “Missing Person” notifications are automatically flagged.
However, it is also important that the phone’s operating system is updated, the Bg-Alert developer reminds on its website.
This is the second attempt at Bg-Alert tests. The first ones were in November last year. They were held by district, and shortly after that, an employee at the developer company mistakenly sent another letter of alarm. However, it explicitly stated that it was a test.
For the first time the system was activated in real conditions on July 25, when it exploded the fireworks warehouse near the village of Elin Pelin Station. It was switched on about an hour after the first rumble and again after a particularly loud explosion 30 minutes after the first alarm. On July 30, the system was used for the 3rd time during the fire near the village of Karpelevo.
Before it was activated, Bg-alert caused controversy during the fires in Bolyarovo municipality at the beginning of July. Then the people of Vetren, whose houses burned down, asked why it was not included. It turned out that no one from the local government wanted it, and there was no telecom coverage in the area either. The Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev and the then Minister of Transport Georgi Gvozdeikov personally went to the place and assisted for new cells.
The system can be activated only at the request of the mayor, regional governor or minister. So far, 71 mayors have been trained, some have delegated the management of Bg-alert to their subordinates.