New Smartphone App Improves Mass Notification Process
Lynsie Dickerson, USAREC, Public Affairs Office
Nov. 5, 2014
USAREC headquarters employees will soon be able to receive important messages directly on their phones through a new mass notification application.
The app will be available for download Dec. 1.
“The purpose of the notification app is for the organization to send out an immediate workforce message to cover a whole spectrum of notifications,” said Doug Cummins, Web Services branch chief and creator of the app. “It can be emergency alerts, operations newsflashes, or whatever the case may be, just to keep the workforce informed and to give leaders that direct communication with their subordinates.”
When the app pushes out a notification, the most important content of the message will show up on the screen. The user can click the alert to read additional information. The notifications are also archived and can be accessed later.
“I think the app is applicable to almost every directorate,” Cummins said. “It’s very user-friendly.”
The notification app was created following a tasking by USAREC Commanding General Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet, Cummins said. It is currently being tested within USAREC headquarters but will eventually be available command-wide.
“What we needed to have was an updated notification system, similar to campus alert systems that schools have,” said Peter Borosky, Command Operations Center chief.
A mass notification system called AtHoc is supposed to eventually be the Army standard, but USAREC may not get that system for at least two or three years, Borosky said. The current desktop alert system used is about five years old and not very user friendly, he added, so a new system needed to be created.
“The app is an improvement over what we have now,” Borosky said. “It’s important because it will provide early warning for everybody.”
“If the app really catches on, we could let each brigade manage their own app and they could push out messages to their own force,” Cummins said.
The app is compatible with Android devices and is available (along with other USAREC apps) in the USAREC Google Play store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=USAREC+G6. To download the app, users must have a GoArmy account, have installed the Google Device Policy, and on-boarded their smartphones as required in FRAGO 49, Cummins said.
Those using non-Android devices can contact Cummins for the link to an RSS feed that provides the same alerts.
Lynsie Dickerson, USAREC, Public Affairs Office
Nov. 5, 2014
USAREC headquarters employees will soon be able to receive important messages directly on their phones through a new mass notification application.
The app will be available for download Dec. 1.
“The purpose of the notification app is for the organization to send out an immediate workforce message to cover a whole spectrum of notifications,” said Doug Cummins, Web Services branch chief and creator of the app. “It can be emergency alerts, operations newsflashes, or whatever the case may be, just to keep the workforce informed and to give leaders that direct communication with their subordinates.”
When the app pushes out a notification, the most important content of the message will show up on the screen. The user can click the alert to read additional information. The notifications are also archived and can be accessed later.
“I think the app is applicable to almost every directorate,” Cummins said. “It’s very user-friendly.”
The notification app was created following a tasking by USAREC Commanding General Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet, Cummins said. It is currently being tested within USAREC headquarters but will eventually be available command-wide.
“What we needed to have was an updated notification system, similar to campus alert systems that schools have,” said Peter Borosky, Command Operations Center chief.
A mass notification system called AtHoc is supposed to eventually be the Army standard, but USAREC may not get that system for at least two or three years, Borosky said. The current desktop alert system used is about five years old and not very user friendly, he added, so a new system needed to be created.
“The app is an improvement over what we have now,” Borosky said. “It’s important because it will provide early warning for everybody.”
“If the app really catches on, we could let each brigade manage their own app and they could push out messages to their own force,” Cummins said.
The app is compatible with Android devices and is available (along with other USAREC apps) in the USAREC Google Play store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=USAREC+G6. To download the app, users must have a GoArmy account, have installed the Google Device Policy, and on-boarded their smartphones as required in FRAGO 49, Cummins said.
Those using non-Android devices can contact Cummins for the link to an RSS feed that provides the same alerts.