The Government has launched a review into why some phones did not receive today’s UK-wide emergency alert test.

Although millions of people across the country did receive a test alarm and message on their phones at 3pm, a number of the population said they didn’t.

The 10-second alarm should have sounded on all 4G and 5G devices that were switched on and not in aeroplane mode.

But a number of people posted on social media that they didn’t get the alert, while some said it came a minute early.

One person wrote: ’15:30 and still waiting for my national alert to warn me of impending doom.’

Another posted: ‘Feeling neglected. No #Alert for me at 3.00. Did they decide those of us with a Huawei phone are expendable?’

A third wrote: ‘My emergency alarm never came through, and I’m very hormonal and unloved?? do the government simply not want me to be safe?’

The Cabinet Office acknowledged that not everyone that should have received the alert did and that it would be working with network providers to understand why.

Posting on Twitter a spokesperson wrote: ‘While the vast majority of compatible phones received the alert, we are aware that a very small proportion of mobile users on some networks did not receive it and will be looking at this as part of our review of the test.’

It said it would also look at why some people received it at the wrong time.

Mobile network Three tweeted saying a number of their customers did not receive the test alert.

It added: ‘We’re working closely with the government to understand why and ensure it doesn’t happen when the system is in use.’

A small number of people have also taken to social media to flag that they have not been able to make or receive calls since the 3pm alarm went off on their device.

The Cabinet Office stated that engineers had not spotted a trend of phone functions failing to work afterwards, but said officials were in the early stages of analysing the results of the trial run.

People who do not wish to receive future alerts will be able to opt-out using their device settings but officials hope the life-saving potential of the messages means users will keep them on.

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The innovative North East company n.gage.io aspires to transform how audiences engage with leisure, visitor and sporting attractions.

Using a highly customisable, data insight driven SaaS platform with an integrated mobile web-application, operators will be able to deepen their audience and visitor engagement, deliver powerful insights, and increase customer lifetime value.

Already the tech company has begun work with pilot customers from the attraction sector, such as Northumberland Zoo, and the sports sector.

n.gage.io has now secured £150,000 in seed investment from County Durham based Growth Capital Ventures to drive the development of the technology forward and support n-gage.io’s market strategy.

Co-founder and chief executive of Growth Capital Ventures Norm Peterson said: “Once developed, this new platform will give attraction and venue operators at all levels the ability to affordably embrace the power of technology to improve audience engagement both before, during and after a visit, with real-time evaluation tools to gain valuable insights.

“This has been a great opportunity to invest at an early stage and a highly scalable business focussed on innovation in digital media and mobile technology. This initial investment will accelerate the development of the technology and allow the company to scale up the team to drive the business forwards.”

Despite 84% of UK adults owning a smartphone in 2020, only 18% of the 5,500 visitor attractions in England used a mobile app prior to the pandemic.

n-gage.io’s founder and CEO Bryan Hoare said: “Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of technology more than ever; showing how important it is to maintain links with your audience when a national and global crisis disrupts business.

“While the pandemic has accelerated views around technology adoption, more needs to be done to address market affordability and ease of deployment where low levels of technical expertise and lack of resource are often barriers.”

It is hoped that transforming audience engagement and visitor experience will gain businesses more loyal customer bases and therefore increase revenues.

Director of media and content at n-gage.io added: “Our content experiences can also provide focus, delivering engagement in such a way that people’s lives are enriched. We can do so much more with technology for education, bringing our heritage and culture to life for community benefit.”