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Support Inaugural Emergency Communications
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President Barack H. Obama
waves to the crowd following his Inauguration as the 44th
President of the United States. (Photo by Navy Petty Officer
First Class Chad J. McNeeley) |
Arlington
VA, February 6, 2009 - With
over a million observers cramming into the National Mall in
Washington, Barack H. Obama took the oath of office on January
20 to become the 44th President of the United States.
The 56th Inauguration activities provided visitors
–using their cell phones – an opportunity to capture
a bit of history by communicating their observances to family
and friends by text message and calls, as well as capturing
and transmitting images from their cell phone cameras.
With over a million observers cramming into
the National Mall in Washington, Barack H. Obama took the
oath of office on January 20 to become the 44th President
of the United States. |
The 56th Inauguration activities
provided visitors –using their cell phones – an opportunity
to capture a bit of history by communicating their observances to
family and friends by text message and calls, as well as capturing
and transmitting images from their cell phone cameras.
With the high volume of wireless communications expected, the National
Communications System – along with its government and industry
partners – coordinated communications efforts to handle the
large surge of wireless communications in the District of Columbia.
At the same time, the NCS, through its National Coordinating Center
(NCC), supported national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP)
communications services to the Federal, State and local leaders;
first responders and critical infrastructure personnel through the
five-day inaugural weekend.
NCS Director and Deputy Manager James Madon said much of credit
goes to the telecommunications industry for their preparation with
the NCS to handle the wireless demands. “Bottom line, at least
from all the reports that I’ve seen, was that the cellular
coverage and the landline coverage performed admirably,” said
Madon. He added that the NCS planned and worked with carriers for
two and half months and cited the effort as a true partnership effort.
“We understood what they were doing and they understood what
we needed for emergency preparedness.”
NCS implemented its continuity of operations plan
for this historic event and successfully conducted a personnel accountability
test of its automated messaging service – the DHS Emergency
Notification System. The NCS also activated the Shared Resources
High Frequency Radio Program and conducted a variety of communications
checks while operating at its second highest level. In addition,
NS/EP callers using the Government Emergency Telecommunications
Service (GETS) completed 99 percent of the over 700 priority service
calls during the inaugural weekend.
Industry representatives of the NCC also deployed to the NCS alternate
site and provided vital situational awareness information on their
wireless networks. This deployment was part of industry efforts
to ensure communications channels remained open. Many of the communications
carriers brought mobile cellular resources to the National Capital
Region to augment existing wireless communications assets, coordinating
placement, personnel access and refueling issues directly with the
NCC.
Under the National Response Framework (NRF), the NCS is responsible
for Emergency Support Function 2 (ESF-2) – Communications.
Through its 24x7 watch center, the NCC planned, coordinated, and
conducted ESF-2 operations from multiple venues including: the NCS
alternate site; the Federal Emergency Management Agency National
Response Coordination Center (main and alternate sites); the U.S.
Secret Service Multi-Agency Communications Center; and the Federal
Region 3 Regional Response Coordination Center.
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