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Getting Certified As an IPAWS Initiator (MOA)

Although FEMA makes it relatively easy to become an IPAWS message initiator, there are a few rules that must be met and some steps in the process that  emergency offices applying for IPAWS need to understand:

1) Qualified Agencies. Almost any level of government from municipal to Federal is potentially eligible to become an authorized agency. The key in this is the state emergency management contact that FEMA has designated to coordinate which agencies in the state are eligible to be authorized. Here’s a sample of variety of agencies that have qualified for IPAWS:

Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of emergency Management (AK)

Lexington Fayette Urban county Government (KY)

Hawaii State Civil Defense

Monroe County Emergency Services for Monroe County ( NY)

Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency

New Jersey State Police

City of Moreno Valley Emergency Management Agency (CA)

 

The Application process is straightforward. The MOA (Memorandum Of Agreement) application is available through our office or www.FEMA. gov   It’s a two page document simply identifying the applicant agency. In addition the  FEMA application requests an “interoperability software provider”  to be named. Email us at Hyper-Reach  with a request and we will have that portion of the MOA form  completed for you to send to FEMA. An office needs simply to fill out the MOA, include the interoperability software provider sheet and email it to IPAWS@dhs.gov

If you have questions, simply call Hyper-Reach at (585) 586 -0020 and ask for Kiva (8-5pm daily) and you will be supported to get your MOA application in.The approval process at this publication date is approximately a month.

After an office has applied, FEMA will contact the applying office and provide everything needed to finish certification. As more and more agencies apply, FEMA predicts a bottleneck of applications due to the limits of FEMA staff. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Asher Group Launches Hyper-Reach Express

In its continuing quest to add to the notification abilities of America’s emergency management agencies, Asher Group is introducing a new offering called Hyper-Reach Express.

Hyper- Reach Express leverages the IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert System) created by FEMA to enable municipal,county, state and other agencies to broadcast emergency alerts to all qualified mobile phones within range of the towers selected for that message distribution. These alerts are specifically formulated messages designed to inform the public quickly of events which meet specified  criteria for urgency, severity and likelihood.

Thanks to the cooperation of most mobile phone carriers,including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, the messages are broadcast with no additional cost to either agencies or the public. Messages can be sent hundreds, thousands or millions of people without concern for cost.

Because these messages are broadcast to all cell phones in range, they reach people regardless of whether they have registered with an agency or even regardless of where they normally live. Visitors to an area can be alerted to an emergency, as can commuters through an area.