As one of the leading providers of mass notification technology to state and local governments, Regroup’s IPAWS integration and relationship with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) extends back many years. Our company has long been on the short list of alert origination software providers that have successfully demonstrated their IPAWS capabilities to the agency. In an ongoing effort to enhance our clients’ experiences using our platform, Regroup Mass Notification’s entire client services team has recently refreshed their specific Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) training.
FEMA’s IPAWS is used by federal, state, local, tribal and territorial alerting authorities to alert members of the public to everything from Amber Alerts to imminent threats to the community. This extremely powerful system is designed to reach every American possible in the event of an emergency, even if no contact information is on file for them. When a message is sent, it triggers broadcast television, AM/FM radio, cable TV stations, satellite radio, wireline services, cell phone towers, digital highway signage and much more. All IPAWS notifications must follow strict Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) standards, which were created to ensure clarity of each message and avoid confusion or false alerts, but this also means they can be fairly complicated to send.
The training course taken by Regroup’s Client Services Team is produced by FEMA IPAWS experts and includes an exam. We are proud to tell our many IPAWS clients that we take their messaging needs very seriously, and our team is as prepared as possible to serve them if they’re ever in need of help with sending an IPAWS message. We will continue to improve our service through training and certifications when it’s high-quality and available from trusted partners.
Because technology is always improving, and IPAWS is enhancing its services in response, we at Regroup thought this was the perfect time to train every member of our team.
A sample of what our team has learned and been tested on:
- Developing effective policies, plans, and procedures
- Defining the approval process
- Defining the importance of training, practice, and exercising with IPAWS
- Illustrating best practices and effective use of IPAWS to reach members of the public
“Learning about best practices from FEMA and taking the steps for testing and certifications helps us stay at the top of our game and serve our clients in the situations when they need our expertise the most. We are grateful for the opportunity to take this IPAWS course,” said Hanz Lepik, Director of Client Services for Regroup Mass Notification.
More resources:
- Download Regroup’s free IPAWS integration guide
- Learn about Regroup’s risk-free access to its system for local governments responding to COVID-19