Wisconsin residents, here is why your cellphone's warning tone will go off Wednesday afternoon

It is only a test.

Wisconsin residents will hear a warning sound coming from their cellphone Wednesday afternoon as the federal government is conducting a nationwide test of the emergency alert system.

Here's what to know:

What time is the test happening?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct a test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) at approximately 1:20 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Oct. 4, according to a news release from FEMA.

What is the message?

The WEA will be directed to all cellphones, while the EAS will notify all radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers.

Broadcast TV shows and radio will be interrupted across the U.S. That message will say:

“This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public."

Cellphones will get the warning as a tone, a vibration and as a text message. The message will read:

“THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

How long is the cellphone test?

The test is scheduled to last approximately one minute. It will only go out once, there will be no repeats.

Will you get the message if your phone is turned off?

Only cellphones that are powered on will receive the message. If your phone is on but the sound and vibration features are turned off, you'll still get the message.

If your phone is set to Wi-Fi or airplane mode, it won't receive the alert because the message goes out over the cellular broadcast system.

How loud will the alert be?

The type of noise and general volume of the alert is similar to that of an Amber Alert or warnings issued by the National Weather Service in case of severe weather.

The WEA alert, which will be sent out to all cellular devices will be accompanied by a unique tone and vibration to make sure that the alerts will be available to the public, including people with disabilities, according to FEMA.

What will it sound like?

It's against federal law to play the emergency warning Attention Signal, or a recording of it, in any circumstance other than an actual emergency or authorized test. Therefore, media outlets refrain from playing the sound.

In 2021 a proposed fine of $20,000 was levied against "The Doug Bashman Radio Show" for playing the Emergency Alert System Attention Signal "in the absence of any actual emergency." In 2019, the CBS television show "Young Sheldon" was hit with a proposed fine of $272,000 for playing a tornado warning sound effect.

Playing the tone when there isn't a real emergency or a real test could lead to "alert fatigue" where the public becomes desensitized to the alerts and stops paying attention to them, the Federal Communications Commission said in a statement about the radio show fine.

This is the official description of the warning tone from the government:

"The audio attention signal must have a temporal pattern of one long tone of two (2) seconds, followed by two short tones of one (1) second each, with a half (0.5) second interval between each tone. The entire sequence must be repeated twice with a half (0.5) second interval between each repetition."

Why do we need a national emergency warning test?

In case of a natural catastrophe, attack on the country, or other emergencies, the federal government needs to make sure the national alert system is still an effective way to warn Americans.

Remember, it is only a test.

Contributing: USA Today