Thumb Cellular to conduct testing of the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) in the Thumb Area

On June 20, 2012 at approximately 1:00PM wireless subscribers in the Thumb Cellular service area may receive text-based messages testing the new Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).

Using CMAS, Thumb Cellular will forward alerts from government agencies to individuals’ wireless devices, informing subscribers of public safety and severe weather emergencies. The alerts are designed to help citizens respond appropriately and save lives and property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are implementing CMAS as a result of the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act passed by Congress in 2006.

Messages will indicate that it is a test message and is free of charge.  Currently, the models that Thumb Cellular sells with CMAS capabilities are the Motorola Milestone X2 and BlackBerry smartphones with software version 7.1.  Any wireless phone with CMAS capabilities will receive the test messages if they are within the testing area regardless of which cellular carrier they have service with.

CMAS provides three types of messages—Presidential (national defense), Imminent Threat (severe weather or public safety emergency), and AMBER (child abduction) alerts. These alerts will be sent free of charge to wireless subscribers in a targeted geographic area corresponding to the scope of the emergency. In the event of an actual emergency, such as a tornado or flood, the alerts will provide information about actions that wireless customers can take to protect themselves and their property. 

Wireless subscribers can chose to opt out of receiving the Imminent Threat messages and AMBER Alerts (Presidential Alerts cannot be disabled) by changing settings in their phone.  For more information visit www.thumbcellular.com/data-plans/emergency-alerts.html

Additional information about CMAS is available on the FEMA website: http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/cmas.shtm 

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FEMA to conduct required monthly testing of the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS)

On May 16, 2012 at 1:00PM wireless subscribers across the nation, including the Thumb Cellular service area will receive a test message from FEMA.  This will be the first date for monthly testing of this service.  A Nationwide required monthly test of the Commercial Mobile Alert System will be conducted the third Wednesday of each month at 1:00PM EST.

Using CMAS, Thumb Cellular will forward alerts from government agencies to individuals’ wireless devices, informing subscribers of public safety and severe weather emergencies. The alerts are designed to help citizens respond appropriately and save lives and property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are implementing CMAS as a result of the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act passed by Congress in 2006.

The test messages will say, “This is a test of the Commercial Mobile Alert System. This is only a test.”

Currently, the models that Thumb Cellular sells with CMAS capabilities are the Motorola Milestone X2 and BlackBerry smartphones with software version 7.1.  Any wireless phone with CMAS capabilities will receive the test messages if they are within the testing area regardless of which cellular carrier they have service with.

CMAS provides three types of messages—Presidential (national defense), Imminent Threat (severe weather or public safety emergency), and AMBER (child abduction) alerts. These alerts will be sent free of charge to wireless subscribers in a targeted geographic area corresponding to the scope of the emergency. In the event of an actual emergency, such as a tornado or flood, the alerts will provide information about actions that wireless customers can take to protect themselves and their property. 

Subscribers have the option to opt-out of receiving the Imminent Threat Alerts and the Amber Alerts if they do not wish to receive them.  This can be done by changing the Emergency Alerts settings in their handset.  For step-by-step instructions, please visit:  http://www.thumbcellular.com/data-plans/emergency-alerts.html

Additional information about CMAS is available on the FEMA website: http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/cmas.shtm  

Thumb Cellular Donates $2,000 to Area Charities

The votes are in, and Thumb Cellular is excited to announce $2,000 in donations to local charities, including $800 to My Friends Care Cancer Fund – In Honor of Lauren Hood.

For more than 10 years, employees at Thumb Cellular have participated in the “Casual for a Cause” effort.  Each Friday the employees at Thumb Cellular have the option to wear jeans to work in exchange for a $2 donation to the Casual Fund.  At the end of the year, the staff at Thumb Cellular selects charities to donate the funds they’ve collected. This year they decided to do it a bit differently.  They asked their customers to nominate a charity that they thought deserved the donation, then voting took place on the top five nominated charities.

The top five charities nominated were Thumb Industries, Human Development Commission’s Foster Grandparent Program, Kingston United Methodist Food Pantry, My Friends Care (In Honor of Lauren Hood) and Brown City Schools-Be the Change.  After 30 days of voting, over 5,000 votes were cast on the Thumb Cellular website and in the offices.

The charity that received the most votes was My Friends Care Cancer Fund – In Honor of Lauren Hood.  Lauren Hood is the 2 year old daughter of Shane and Colleen Hood of Caro.  She was recently diagnosed with a rare metabolic storage disorder called Hurler’s Syndrome and needs a bone marrow transplant.

Thumb Industries came in second place and received $500; Kingston United Methodist Church Food Pantry came in third place and received $300; fourth and fifth places went to Brown City – Be the Change and Human Development Commission’s Foster Grandparent Program which received $200 each.  For more information on these great organizations, visit www.thumbcellular.com/charity.

“We were overwhelmed by the participation from the community throughout this process.  I think they chose some great charities for us to donate to and hopefully also raised some awareness for these organizations in the process,” said Paul Picklo, Thumb Cellular general manager.

Thumb Cellular to Launch Commercial Alert System

PIGEON, MI – Testing has begun for the new Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) that will be launched by Thumb Cellular this April.

Using CMAS, Thumb Cellular will forward alerts from government agencies to individuals’ wireless devices, informing subscribers of public safety and severe weather emergencies.

When fully operational in April, CMAS will provide three types of messages—Presidential (national defense), Imminent Threat (severe weather or public safety emergency), and AMBER (child abduction) alerts. These alerts will be sent free of charge to wireless subscribers in a targeted geographic area corresponding to the scope of the emergency. In the event of an emergency, such as a tornado or flood, the alerts will provide information about actions that wireless customers can take to protect themselves and their property. 

Of the three types of alerts, two of them (Imminent Threat and AMBER) can be opted out of by the customer.  The Presidential alerts will be received by all subscribers who have a CMAS-capable device.

“The testing went fairly well,” stated Paul Picklo, general manager of Thumb Cellular.  “We had a couple of hiccups, most notably that we had a setting in the test platform to rebroadcast the message every five hours, which caused some confusion and aggravation to some customers.”

“We truly apologize for that,” Picklo said. “We found the error, and we don’t anticipate that happening again.”

Currently, Thumb Cellular has only limited models that have the capabilities of accepting CMAS messages.  They include the Motorola Milestone X2 and a couple of newer BlackBerry devices.

“This government initiative wasn’t mandatory so not all carriers chose to participate; therefore not all phone manufacturers have been building the CMAS capabilities into their devices.  Going forward, however, we’re going to see many more devices that that have accept the CMAS messages,” Picklo said.

“It’s one of those things we hope we never have to use, but if we do Thumb Cellular and our customers are ready,” Picklo said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are implementing CMAS as a result of the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act passed by Congress in 2006.

Additional information about CMAS is available on the FEMA website: http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/cmas.shtm 

Thumb Cellular Asks for Customers’ Input on Yearly “Casual for a Cause” Donation

For more than 10 years, employees at Thumb Cellular have participated in the “Casual for a Cause” effort.  Each Friday the employees at Thumb Cellular have the option to wear jeans to work in exchange for a $2 donation to the Casual Fund.  At the end of the year, the staff at Thumb Cellular selects charities to donate the funds they’ve collected. This year they’ve decided to do it a bit differently.  They are asking their customers to nominate a charity that they think deserves the donation. 

Thumb Cellular is taking nominations from now until February 15^th.  You can nominate your favorite charity one of several ways:  Visit the Thumb Cellular website (www.thumbcellular.com/charity) and click the “nominate a charity” link, text the name of a charity to 4483 (GIVE), post it on their facebook wall, send a tweet (@thumbcellular), email them at sales@thumbcellular.com or stop into one of their offices to submit your nomination.   Customers may send one nomination per day.  On February 16^th  the top 5 nominated charities will be announced and voting will begin.  Customers can then cast their votes (via text, online or in person). The charity with the most votes will receive a $800 donation.  The charity in second place will receive $500; third place will receive $300; fourth and fifth place will receive $200 each.

“There are a number of great organizations in our area, so we thought this year we’d let our customers help determine where these funds go,” said Paul Picklo, Thumb Cellular general manager.

So Thumb Cellular is asking you to log in, stop in, tweet or text them your favorite charity to help put them in the running for a donation.