The Role of Technology and Communications in a Crisis Presentation to San Joaquin County Public Information Officers Jerry Becker Information Systems Director County of San Joaquin September 23, 2009

Presentation Agenda Review of technologies most likely to be used during a crisis Will the technologies work as I expect? Factors to consider before the crisis occurs

Technologies Cellular Telephones Texting / Instant Messaging Push-to-Talk High-speed Wireless Internet Landline-based Telephones Radio Communications

Will the Technologies Work During a Crisis? Cellular technologies are often saturated for the first hours Landline-based technologies are often impacted Government owned infrastructure is usually functional – depending on crisis Internet traffic will be slower than normal functionality is usually available

Factors to Consider Your crisis plans should anticipate the need for alternate communication methods / technologies Redundancy in your key technologies (Radio, , etc) should exist Crisis plans / communication plans should clearly outline what methods are primary and fail-over If you qualify for public safety exceptions, discuss with your cellular telephone carrier

Questions?

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