Alert Rosters

[Trouble]

I know what everyone is going to say 25 cents a pop...BUT

I personally have set up a group in my email called REDCAP, as well as one in my phone.  both lists are set with everyone that is qualified for mission in my group.  We have a response map for which units will go where, and which are on standby.  I just hit that group button type out my message and texts go out to the entire group, giving an area usually by closest airport, and the number to call.

It is quite simple to use.  If you are emailing them it is something like (cell number)@nextel.messaging.com
or some variation.  This works great for us, and relieves my calling each person.  Plus if the members are fidgety about getting these messages they are reimbursable as a communications expense I simply put the total (usually around 8 dollars) on my 108 and toss everyone a quarter when I see them

YEP. That is the way to go!

My SQ has a SAR Mission e-mail list server, that we use to send out e-mails and text messages to those signed up for it (our UDFT's, GTM's, GTL's etc) It really cuts down on the phone calls.     

When we get a call we send out one of several variations of this standard message:

"SAR Alert!  If available for a mission, call ________ (insert Name of GTL or POC) at _________(insert phone Number)  ASAP."

Leaving the GTL to plan, prep, and speak with IC instead of making unnecessary calls.

[RiverAux]

Email alerts for mission activations are not ideal since many people don't check their email but once or twice a day.  They may be fine for letting some folks know that there is a mission underway, but I certainly wouldn't count on it if I were trying to actually set up a team.  Decent backup, but poor primary system. 

[davedove]

Email alerts for mission activations are not ideal since many people don't check their email but once or twice a day.  They may be fine for letting some folks know that there is a mission underway, but I certainly wouldn't count on it if I were trying to actually set up a team.  Decent backup, but poor primary system. 

Very true.  Email is great to announce upcoming events and to pass files.  However, because most people don't normally check their email constantly, it's not good for immediate missions.

For instance, you have a member sitting at home, watching TV and his computer is not even turned on.  An email is sent out asking those available to contact the sender within the hour.  Our member is not doing anything special, just watching an old movie.  He doesn't check his email until the next morning and thus misses the mission.  But, if someone had called him, he would have responded immediately.

Text messages are not as bad, as many people keep their cell phones on all the time, and so would get the message.  But, a lot of old-schoolers, such as many of our members, don't keep their cell phones on all the time either.

[afgeo4]

Well... if the old schoolers know that their cell phones are on the alert roster and they want to do missions, they should keep their phones on so they can be alerted.

When doctors were issued beepers they were told to keep them on because you can't beep someone if they turned off their beeper.

Makes sense?

[CAP006]

Well... if the old schoolers know that their cell phones are on the alert roster and they want to do missions, they should keep their phones on so they can be alerted.

When doctors were issued beepers they were told to keep them on because you can't beep someone if they turned off their beeper.

Makes sense?

Makes perfect sence to me.

[davedove]

Well... if the old schoolers know that their cell phones are on the alert roster and they want to do missions, they should keep their phones on so they can be alerted.

When doctors were issued beepers they were told to keep them on because you can't beep someone if they turned off their beeper.

Makes sense?

I guess I'm of the old school.  My cell phone is not my primary phone.  I am on my unit's alert roster, but my primary number is my home line and the secondary number is at work, the two places I'm most likely to be.  If I'm not in one of those two places, I typically don't want to be contacted.  I keep the cell phone only for emergencies unless I'm on a mission.  Then I keep it on as an alternate communication choice.

[floridacyclist]

Besides, if their phones are off, you can't call them anyway.

Email / text messages are just a backup system. In fact, I would have everyone call me (or whomever was their POC) on the phone to verify orders before moving one inch. An alert on the text system might read something like:

DO NOT DEPLOY!
1: ELT Mission - Panama City
2: POC Capt Floyd
3: Email gfloyd@tallahasseecap.org or call 555-555-5555 if available

Of course, everything else would still be going on and nobody would be moving (except to check their gear), but that goes out as soon as I get the text/page/email from AFRCC saying there's a mission in our area and wakes folks up.
if enough call me from that, I'm not going to waste a lot of time tracking folks down through a phone tree

Well... if the old schoolers know that their cell phones are on the alert roster and they want to do missions, they should keep their phones on so they can be alerted.

When doctors were issued beepers they were told to keep them on because you can't beep someone if they turned off their beeper.

Makes sense?

Edited phone number - MIKE

[afgeo4]

Well... if the old schoolers know that their cell phones are on the alert roster and they want to do missions, they should keep their phones on so they can be alerted.

When doctors were issued beepers they were told to keep them on because you can't beep someone if they turned off their beeper.

Makes sense?

I guess I'm of the old school.  My cell phone is not my primary phone.  I am on my unit's alert roster, but my primary number is my home line and the secondary number is at work, the two places I'm most likely to be.  If I'm not in one of those two places, I typically don't want to be contacted.  I keep the cell phone only for emergencies unless I'm on a mission.  Then I keep it on as an alternate communication choice.

What can I tell you? If your phone is for use on missions and you don't get to go on a mission because your phone is off then I guess you should either e-bay your phone away or start keeping it on.

[floridacyclist]

Exactly! Nobody is talking about 2Bing anyone, but if we can't get ahold of someone as easily as possible, they simply won't get invited to the sandbox.

Either way, if your listed phone numbers are where you are at, then you would be called eventually if we didn't get enough response from the email page-out. The downside is that you would then have to move a lot faster because you didn't get the heads-up that others did.

Of course, if someone literally doesn't want to be contacted, that is their choice...but give enough failed attempts and I'll stop wasting time even calling them.

[davedove]

Well, hey, since most of the calls tend to happen in the wee hours of the morning, I'll be home anyway.

If it's a situation where one can anticipate being called, like a disaster situation, I would keep closer to the phone, and email, anyway.

[baronet68]

CAP needs to get serious about alert notifications and get a subscription service that is automated and will hunt people down. 

Sendwordnow.com has such a service that my company uses for emergency notifications... it calls your home, cell, or any other phone number you have listed in the database and delivers a message using the NOAA-type automated voices.  At the same time, it can also send text messages and email.  The system also can track when/if the intended caller got the message, gives options to reply by email or over the phone ("Press 1 if available, Press 2 if still sleeping, Press 3 if uniform is dirty... ").  Lastly, this particular service also sets up a conference call that everyone can join to discuss the situation.

Something like this would make the alert roster a thing of the past.  When the mission starts, simply set the beast loose (it's web-based) and wait for interested/available personnel to join the conference call.  It's not a free service but it's a step in the right direction if CAPHQ wants to stay relavant in the ES arena.

(Disclaimer: I do not work for SendWordNow.)

[fyrfitrmedic]

CAP could take a page from the USCG and maybe license a copy of ANICS.

[afgeo4]

CAP needs to get serious about alert notifications and get a subscription service that is automated and will hunt people down. 

Sendwordnow.com has such a service that my company uses for emergency notifications... it calls your home, cell, or any other phone number you have listed in the database and delivers a message using the NOAA-type automated voices.  At the same time, it can also send text messages and email.  The system also can track when/if the intended caller got the message, gives options to reply by email or over the phone ("Press 1 if available, Press 2 if still sleeping, Press 3 if uniform is dirty... ").  Lastly, this particular service also sets up a conference call that everyone can join to discuss the situation.

Something like this would make the alert roster a thing of the past.  When the mission starts, simply set the beast loose (it's web-based) and wait for interested/available personnel to join the conference call.  It's not a free service but it's a step in the right direction if CAPHQ wants to stay relavant in the ES arena.

(Disclaimer: I do not work for SendWordNow.)

That system sounds pretty great if we can make the fees down.

[JC004]

Here's how PAWG is doing our SMS alert system at the moment: http://www.pawingcap.com/docs/jointnotification.pdf

[RiverAux]

For most missions you don't really need anything fancy.  IC calls squadron commander, squadron commander calls people to get ground and/or aircrews together.  He gets immediate confirmation of who is going and since you usually don't need EVERYBODY to show up, it keeps from bothering people who aren't needed. 

[SJFedor]

What happens if the SQ/CC doesn't answer the phone/doesn't like to wake up early in the morning to call his people up? I've heard of quite a few times where IC's go to call the unit/CC and either he or the CC's wife picks up and pretty much tells them to take a long walk off a short pier.

I believe in dedicated alerting officers with a roster of people they know will respond if called. It's a waste of time to just go through the rolls to hope you can muster enough people for a mission, when you can, instead, have a confirmed, regularly updated list of people who WILL ACTUALLY PLAY.

[floridacyclist]

I know I had suggested this and it showed up on my Eservices about the same time that I made IC2..but I also received a lot of other permissions after cornering the Wing IT guy and getting my permissions straightened out from when they disbanded my old group.

Either way, I ended up with National Eservices Member Search privileges. If you're an IC or WAO, check under your restricted applications for member search and see if it says National at the top. I've used this to find people. Another useful tool is the join function on the main website as I can type in the zipcode of an ELT signal and it will give me the closest units and a contact person for each, often not the unit CO.

[RiverAux]

If you can't get the CC, you should already have the numbers of the deputy commanders and squadron ES officer.

[_]

I believe in dedicated alerting officers with a roster of people they know will respond if called.

In Maryland responsibility for getting teams falls to the group duty officers.  An IC will get the call from AFRCC then call the duty officer of the group the mission is in.  There are several duty officers in each group.   The group duty officer will rotate who is on call every couple weeks.  These duty officers can look up who is on the alert roster for each squadron in the wing directory but most have the team leaders' phone numbers in their phones.  The duty officers interact with the people in the group so they have a good idea of who can do what, when and where. 

I don't like completely relying on text messages because I don't have many people and they don't all have cell phones.  I like being able to speak with them directly to find out their availability.  When I get the call I will do a preliminary text message to the people who normally come out but I usually end up calling around because a beep from a text message doesn't wake them up in the middle of the night like me calling them multiple times.

[brasda91]

Well... if the old schoolers know that their cell phones are on the alert roster and they want to do missions, they should keep their phones on so they can be alerted.

When doctors were issued beepers they were told to keep them on because you can't beep someone if they turned off their beeper.

Makes sense?

Sure...for pagers.  Updates to your cell phone providers system are done at night.  In order for your phone to utilize the updates, you have to turn your phone off, then turn it back on.  Your phone then connects to the system with any changes/upgrades.

My primary contact number is my home phone, if they don't reach me there, then they can reach me on my cell phone.