Is This Thing On? Using Backup Communications Systems To Ensure Mission Readiness

Maintaining emergency communications capabilities before, during, and after emergencies is critical for sharing life-saving information. Organizations across the Emergency Communications Ecosystem must plan for multiple backup communications capabilities to ensure their mission can still be accomplished if primary systems are lost or degraded. To achieve this level of preparedness, public safety organizations need to collaborate with other partners to plan for and establish redundancies, as well as routinely assess the readiness of their primary, secondary, and backup communications capabilities. However, the SAFECOM Nationwide Survey (SNS) found that most public safety organizations are not properly testing their backup communications systems. For out-of-the ordinary situations when multiple organizations and agencies are involved and backup systems are most likely to be needed, just 26% of organizations test their backup voice and only 15% test their backup data.

During this webinar, participants will hear from the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Regional Planning Committee 20, Mr. Charles Bryson, about real-world examples showcasing collaborative planning approaches and best practices for establishing and testing interoperable backup capabilities. In addition, we will review recommendations in the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) for achieving and maintaining resilient backup systems and provide access to resources that ensure backup system readiness.

Join the webinar to learn about:

• Key gaps on the readiness of backup communications identified in the SNS
• Leveraging the NECP to implement planning, collaboration, and testing best practices to improve resiliency of backup systems
• Resources that exist to develop, deploy, and test interoperable backup communications capabilities