Should Emergency Alerts Work with WiFi Calling?

Question

Should Emergency Alerts Work with WiFi Calling?

Hi,

I have no cell service in my house so I use WiFi calling to make and receive calls on T-Mobile. However, it seems as if when my iPhone 6 is on WiFi for cellular service, it does not receive emergency alerts. My wife, with an identical iPhone, can be in our yard and have cellular service and receive an emergency alert, but I not receive one inside the house. In fact, I can say we have never received an emergency alert on either phone when on WiFi calling.

Any idea if this is expected behavior? Any work-arounds to enable emergency alerts when on WiFi calling?

Thanks!

JK

iPhone 6, iOS 10.3.1, iOS 10.3.3

Posted on Aug 24, 2017 1:47 PM

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Answer 1

sberman

Level 10

272,760 points

Aug 24, 2017 1:56 PM in response to JRK Apple Discuss

The behavior you describe seems perfectly understandable to me.

See this article:

Make a call with Wi-Fi Calling - Apple Support

Although not the same as the behavior you described, note that if you need to place an emergency call (911 in the U.S.), the process is very different for Wi-Fi calling than it is for cellular calling (or landline calling). Normally, calling 911 indicates to the operator the location you're calling from (whether calling from a landline or cellular phone). But in the Wi-Fi calling scenario, that may not be true.

The behavior you're talking about, receiving an emergency alert, has less urgency than placing a 911 call. It makes perfect sense to me that you would fail to receive an emergency alert in this situation.

Ask your cellular carrier if you want more information.

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