As part of National Preparedness Month, Next Century Cities partnered with the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Emergency Communications Division to host “How Local Municipalities Can Prepare for Natural Disasters and Emergencies,” an informative webinar about preparing your locality for seasonal natural disasters.
The Emergency Communications Division of CISA was established in 2007 in response to communication challenges faced during the attacks on September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Division supports and promotes communication used by emergency responders and government officials to keep America safe. As a result, CISA provides their Priority Telecommunications Services (PTS), a suite of services designed to enhance call completions during emergencies when networks are degraded or congested. Services include Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) for wireline voice communications, Wireless Priority Service (WPS) for wireless voice communications, and Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) for repair and installation of organizations’ critical voice and data circuits.
The webinar included a presentation by Larry Clutts, the Priority Telecommunications Services Area Representative (PAR). He detailed ways that local officials could take advantage of the Priority Telecommunications Services and included benefits. His presentation was followed by a question and answer session with NCC’s Program Director Roxy Barboza.
Clutts highlighted the unique value of the offered services. They included the ability to enable the calls across carriers’ networks, facilitate collaboration, provide resiliency at a low cost, and leverage existing local government technology. The three-step enrollment process for these services is as follows:
- Organizations to assign a person of contact (POC) to manage their account;
- The POC completes an online application or contacts the service center directly at (866)-627-2255; and
- The Priority Telecommunications Service Center Staff will reach out to the POC for next steps in the enrollment process.
In addition to these services, Clutts emphasized the importance of having an emergency preparedness plan in place and asking for expert support to fill in the gaps. Local leaders can contact their Priority Telecommunications Services representative for assistance with developing a plan. For members who would like to learn more about these services, please visit https://www.cisa.gov/pts.
