Smartphones as an alerting, command and control system for the preparedness groups and civilians: Results of preliminary tests with the finnish police

Traditional mobile phones have been used for alerting purposes by utilizing their SMS and cell broadcasting features. They do however not suit for demanding alerting and command purposes, for the observation of special forces, rescue officers and civilians, or for the post-evaluation of the operation. Current 3G and 4G/LTE smartphones can do all this, but the empirical evidence is missing. This article reports of the preliminary tests which the University of Jyväskylä has made with the Finnish Police for alerting civilians and for commanding two special groups of the police with smartphones. Smartphones were also used for observing police officers’ position and status and for post-evaluating action during and after the operation. The study supports using smartphones for alerting, command and control purposes. Because of external distractions alerts are noticed better at night than in the daytime. In active hours personal alerts should be given not only by a voice alarm but by stimulating 2-3 senses at the same time. Noticing of smartphone alerts might be improved also by using some additional reception device with the handset.