The service provides subscribers near-instant notification of domestic terror alerts, warnings, terrorism events, changes in the national threat level, as well as weekly homeland security news summaries, official response guidance and other information crucial during a national emergency. The service also reports on critical terrorism threats and actions related to U.S. interests abroad.
All information disseminated via this service is provided in a combination of text messaging and state-of-the-art wireless streaming audio, both live and on demand.
Information Sources
Information disseminated via the HSIS service is derived from a variety of sources, with monitoring operations conducted continuously around the clock.
The first tier of information providers consists of federal sources, including the Dept. of Homeland Security, Dept. of Justice / FBI / Nat`l Infrastructure Protection Center, Dept. of State, Federal Emergency Management Agency, HHS/CDC and a number of other related federal agencies and departments.
AlertsUSA also maintains ``watch teams`` comprised of law enforcement, intelligence and counterterrorism professionals based throughout the country, providing a second tier of information often times more accurate and timely than official sources.
Information Process and Delivery
As events warrant, information is processed through dedicated, redundant alert servers and delivered instantly to subscriber cellular telephones. The process diagram on the right provides a simplified illustration of the information flow in the delivery of the service.
Service Example
Use of this service is extremely easy and requires no special telephone programming by the user. Simply subscribe to the service and your cellular telephone is ready to receive the alerts.
When an alert or update is sent;
1. An SMS notification (text) announcing an alert is sent to subscribers` cellular phone.
2. User responds to prompt, activating a reverse connection to the AlertsUSA streaming audio server.
3. User listens to audio stream, live or on-demand, depending on the circumstances of the emergency.
The Homeland Security Information System service package consists of the following components:
Alerts & Warnings
Instant notification of domestic terror events, alerts, warnings and other related threat information or response guidance issued by the Dept. of Homeland Security, Dept. of Justice / FBI / Nat`l Infrastructure Protection Center, Dept. of State, FEMA and a number of other related federal agencies and sources. Irregular in their frequency of occurrence.
Weekly Update – Security News, Announcements, Alerts & Warnings
Issued each Friday, Weekly Updates are intended to keep users aware of crucial homeland security news, government announcements, FEMA National Situation Updates and other important information, even if no alerts or warnings have been issued during that week.
Weekly Resource Newsletter – Emergency Management, Protection & Defense
Homeland Security Weekly is the premier electronic newsmagazine covering the broad subject areas of homeland defense, emergency management, critical infrastructure protection and increasing the general public`s level of preparedness and situational awareness. Each issue provides a unique blend of homeland security news, as well as the latest government reports, guidance and other useful resources. An invaluable tool.
