Regional communication and collaboration are the lifeblood of crisis resolution. Email isn’t real-time, the phone or radio has limited reach, and everyone from front-line responders to elected officials wants – and needs – intel and updates NOW.
During any major crisis, a variety of responders can be on the scene or need to be in the loop; this can include city police, county sheriffs, state police, federal law enforcement, district attorneys, state attorneys, and local elected and state elected officials. Who’s in charge? Who is coordinating? How do we reach out to those who need to know the latest orders, intel, and updates? This was especially evident during the Pulse tragedy in Orlando and the Dorner manhunt in Los Angeles.
Welcome to the Premier Communications Solution
Genasys Protect CONNECT is the perfect tool for communications and regional collaboration. Get the right people in the right place at the right time, all while being compliant with FOIA, CJIS, HIPAA, and state requirements. Running on existing mobile phones, desktops, and tablets, CONNECT provides the managing agency with the ability to communicate with regional first responders, elected officials, and all regional agencies with real-time orders, intel, and information, all in the midst of a major crisis such as El Paso’s Walmart shooting. With CONNECT, inter-agency and regional communication and collaboration happen faster and more efficiently than ever before.
Regional Communications and Collaboration Features
- Inter-agency Crisis Rooms: Prior to any major crisis, Dispatch and Command create one or more private CONNECT rooms for crisis events and add critical response team members as well as investigative members, elected officials, and others depending on the crisis type. All members can access these rooms from any smartphone, MDT/MDC, desktop, or laptop. Everyone critical to the success of the mission can be co-located and share all updates, decisions, and chats in ONE secure and compliant location.
- In-platform Direct Messaging, or ‘DM’: CONNECT’s solution to SMS/text or public app messaging means all real-time messages sent through the CONNECT platform are stored according to state laws on records retention, allowing for management access and reducing the post-crisis investigation time significantly.
- Agency-wide Alerts: Command has the ability to broadcast agency-wide messages mid-crisis. Significant updates can be sent instantly to ALL personnel during the initial response, after the crisis, and during the ensuing investigation. Agency-wide alerts ensure your first responders have the facts so that rumors and miscommunication are managed before, during, and after the crisis.
- Regional Executives Collaboration: Private chat rooms allow agency executives the tools to immediately update their regional and inter-agency peers, request resources, and provide additional support where needed.
- Guest Accounts: Add elected officials, public information officers, media, and others to selected rooms to receive intel relevant to them. These individuals receive secure real-time communication as read-only, which gives critical updates to key stakeholders without clogging phone and communication lines during crisis response.
- Media Relations, PIO, District & State Attorney Updates: Local and national media personnel can tune into the crisis through read-only real-time ‘guest rooms’ to receive the information they need during a crisis but not vital or private information critical to the overall crisis operation. Real-time, accurate information reduces rumors, gossip, and speculation during any crisis.
Case Closed (Post-Crisis Investigation)
As the immediate need for responders to a crisis abates, the investigation begins. CONNECT retains all communication data from the crisis in a single location, in many cases reducing the post-crisis investigation from months to days or even hours. CONNECT provides instant access to all relevant crisis data, texts, voice, chats, photos, bulletins, alerts, and videos created and distributed during a crisis event, all stored and accessible in their original encrypted format and available to agency executives in a searchable format. All the time maintaining FOIA, CJIS, HIPAA, and state compliance requirements for your communications.
Contact Genasys Protect CONNECT to learn more and schedule a demo.
