By: Jerome Auza
I was fortunate to be in a meeting on August 27, 2016 with Bohol Gov. Edgar M. Chatto, representatives of the Bohol Chamber of Commerce, Bohol ICT Council and some private consultants where we discussed the need to have a system to communicate on our mobile phones even when Internet connection is not available. We discussed the concept of getting the Boholanos ready for such situations because being able to send messages during emergencies or disaster situations is very important.
The loss of cellular service can happen during a typhoon and other disasters when the communication towers get disabled by loss of power or damage. This happened a few years ago in Bohol during the 2013 earthquake when cell sites did not operate for several hours. In the areas hit by typhoon Yolanda in the same year, mobile service providers were completely down for several weeks.
Fortunately the technology to do this is already available in a mobile app called Firechat which uses a system called MeshKit developed by Open Garden. Firechat is a messaging app which can use peer-to-peer connections to send messages. When there are several Firechat users, the app creates a peer-to-peer mesh network which is used to deliver messages to the users. The more users using Firechat, the better the mesh network becomes in terms of capacity and speed of transmission.
Firechat behaves just like any other messaging app but it can use WiFi and Bluetooth to deliver the message through other mobile phones when cellular service is down. Messages are encrypted and received only by the intended recipient. Broadcast messages are also possible.
To be effectively used during disaster situations, the community must already be familiar with the app. If possible, the people should use it on a daily basis so that they are proficient and ready to use it when cellular service bogs down. The plan is to have advisories on extreme weather, power failures, emergencies and other important announcements through Firechat.
Firechat was effectively used during the MMDA organized earthquake drill in Manila in June 2016.
In the next several weeks, expect hear about Firechat parties where people are invited to an event where Firechat is downloaded to mobile phones and used. This will help encourage the user of Firechat. If we are successful in organizing this throughout the province, this app will certainly help get messages across the community when cellular service is down.
The best time to install the Firechat app is now when Internet service is available for downloading the app on your mobile devices. To be ready for disaster situations, we should also have a way to charge the phones so extra batteries and battery packs would be ideal. Solar chargers should also be available.
