Disqus
Families of British Merseyside soldiers in Iraq will be sent text messages by the army if the regiment is targeted. The idea is to channel information and to stop the rumors about incidents and possible casualties. If there are casualties then, a casualty notification officer will be asked to go out to the family and “break the news” to them directly.
“Families will get a flash message to tell them that something that has come out is not true and that the truth will follow as quickly as we can”, said Commanding officer Lt Col Gary Deakin. “We plan to test and adjust as we go and see what is appropriate,” he added.
It’s hard to classify this as either a good or a bad thing. On one side it’s good that family members know exactly what’s going on with their loved ones on the front. On the other hand, I’m not sure just how SMS is good medium for such sensitive information…
[Via: BBC, textually.org]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
