EMnet Facts Flyer (.pdf)  
EMnet Basic Information (.pdf) 
EMnet 7 Layers of Warning (.pdf)
EMnet Communications Paths (.pdf)
EMnet Basic FAQ (.pdf) 

The Emergency Management Network, EMnet, is a satellite-based emergency messaging system serving state and municipal government emergency operation centers, police, firefighters, broadcasters, hospitals, and  other organizations in the states and provinces colored RED in the map below.

The EMnet customer base is comprised of the following:

State Deployments - Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Massachusetts

County Deployments - Dupage County, Illinois; Kane County, Illinois; St. Clair County, Michigan

Pilot Programs - New Brunswick (Canada), Quebec (Canada), Ontario (Canada), Alabama

Major Operations Centers - FEMA/DHS Operations Center, CSX Railroads (Jacksonville, FL), Amtrak (Philadelphia, PA), National Weather Service (NWS) Centers (Seattle, WA) (Sterling, VA)

Corporate Deployments - BP, XM Satellite, Molex, Comcast, Pelmorex

Federal Deployments - The Federal Reserve System

EMnet was created as the digital upgrade for the US National Warning System (NAWAS), which Communications Laboratories re-engineered, produced product for, deployed, and continues to support. And while it remains uncertain as to whether EMnet will be adopted as a U.S. national system, one by one, state governments are adopting EMnet to not only serve their emergency management communication needs, but to also act as the much needed and long overdue upgrade to the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

Where used as intended, EMnet's most significant benefit is that it provides the EOC with a single, efficient and effective interface for all inbound hazard notices, and to all outbound warning systems. Over the last few years, EOC's have experienced an increase in the demands to continuously sort through email, monitor numerous websites, radio and telephone networks, and to watch fax machines for urgent messages from many sources, including those developed for weather, tsunami, Amber Alert, nuclear, chemical industry, fire, health services, school boards, fire services, police, inter-state, inter-county, etc. For many EOC's, this has been accompanied by an increased demand to learn and remain proficient at sending public alerts through systems specific to radio, television, wired and wireless telephone networks, paging networks, web portals, and other communications methods. EMnet provides an all-hazards, all-stakeholders approach, providing the network and communications tools to link the organizations with the sensors, and doing the analytical work, with those with the tools to deliver message to the public, along with the many key stakeholders who have a need to know as much as possible as quickly as possible so that the EOC can quickly, effectively, and efficiently communicate in times of crisis.

A significant improvement when using EMnet with EAS is the elimination of the 'daisy chain' relay system, as broadcast stations are individually addressable. This speeds delivery, maintains signal quality, and ensures delivery was made, as EMnet provides confirmation of message delivery to each station. Those with the authority to issue EAS messages also have the ability to create and send their own EAS messages, rather than having to call and have someone else record and enter the message for them. Additionally, EMnet allows for the inclusion of supporting text, photos, reports, Internet links, etc. - a very important feature in the case of an Amber Alert. Finally, television stations using EMnet can output the actual message text for a crawl across the television screen, while traditional EAS equipment is limited to providing only the event code and duration text, with an audible message.

As a private managed messaging network, EMnet access is limited to approved users, with each user's rights individually defined. As an example, a county government might be limited to communications with police, fire, hospitals and school boards within their county, the Emergency Operation Centers of the counties which border them, their state EOC and perhaps one they border, and the broadcasters which serve their area of responsibility. In one state, only a few approved users have the network rights to issue Amber Alerts for that state. With these limitations in place, and the additional security of sending and storing all messages encrypted, EMnet can be used as with confidence, remaining free of spam and other issues that preclude regular email and other web-based applications from meeting the needs of the Emergency Management and broadcast community.

EMnet is sold in a number of configurations. The typical EMnet design includes a computer, satellite dish and receiver with a broadband connection to the Internet. The EMnet Broadcast configuration is as previously described, with the addition of EMnet EAS Decoder software. 2-way satellite communication packages are available in both fixed and mobile configurations, with satellite telephone as an additional option.

EMnet stations can be standalone or on a network. The addition of EMnet Alerter software will allow for the incoming message alert to notify other computers on the local area network, a great feature for EOC's and PSAP's with multiple stations. Should the user just wish to have EAS alerts notify on other computers, EMnet Notifier is being developed for that purpose.

Other key features of EMnet include remote incoming message alert to pagers and email based on the priority of the incoming message, lost connection reporting both locally and remote, and remote monitoring by another station or Comlabs.

Most importantly, EMnet is user-friendly and simple to use. System configuration and training are typically completed in under an hour.

For a more complete list of EMnet features and benefits, click here.

For a list of EMnet products and services, click here.

For answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), click here.

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