How to use the online alarm clock
Pause the studio preparation at 4:13 am and set an alarm before returning to the desk, cables or running sheet. That gives the interruption a clear purpose: step away from the current job and make the final checks needed for the BBC morning broadcast. With 5:00 am approaching, the alarm marks a useful handover point rather than relying on someone to notice the clock.
Because the broadcast signal must be ready before anyone needs it, use this alarm as the cue for an early test, leaving time to trace silence, distortion or an incorrect feed. Keep the browser active while the production computer stays awake. If the page is closed or that computer sleeps, the studio alarm cannot sound, so it should not be the only safeguard for a critical transmission check.
Studio preparation can mask how quiet the surrounding building still is at this hour. Around 4:13 am, footsteps, doors and voices may carry further than they will later, while ventilation or equipment hum can seem unusually prominent. During the alarm-triggered check, listen once from the presenter’s position and once through the monitored feed; that makes it easier to separate normal overnight background noise from a sound introduced inside the studio.
Common questions
Do I need an account or an app?
Neither. Choose a time and a sound, press Start, and it runs in this browser tab. Nothing is downloaded, nothing is registered, and closing the page leaves nothing behind on the device.
Can I change the sound?
Yes, there is a short list of tones to pick from before you press Start. Softer sounds are easy to sleep through, so a firmer bell tends to be the safer choice for anything early in the morning.
Will it still be right when the clocks change?
Yes. It reads your device's local clock, so the move between GMT and BST at the end of March and October is picked up automatically, as long as the computer's date, time and time zone are set correctly.
Can I use this on a phone?
It works in a mobile browser, but phones lock the screen and suspend background tabs far more readily than a laptop does, which can stop the alarm sounding. For anything important, a desktop or a plugged-in laptop is the steadier option.
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