[EAS] Another issue with the FEMA server

[Sean Donelan]

On Thu, 6 May 2021, Dave Turnmire wrote:
> So is this something specific to Everbridge (another interoperability 
> issue)?  I notice that Washington's RWT (via IPAWS) on Tuesday had a secure 
> URL to an mp3 file on AlertSense's server and it played fine.

Interoperability issues are the toughest bugs to find and fix because no 
one is "wrong."  There are lots corner cases and interpretations.  There 
are a dozen or so different alert software origination products. Some of 
the vendors have merged, so a single vendor may have multiple alert 
origination software products.

Its up to their paying customers to demand better testing.  FEMA doesn't 
(and can't) rigorously test third-party products.  The vendors test their 
own products.

One of the reasons why I created the IPAWS CAP alert spreadsheet, it makes 
potential interoperability issues visible. When different vendors put 
data in fields differently, it shows up. Again, interoperability isn't 
about right or wrong, interopability problems occur when different vendors 
do things differently.