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Communication and ready information access are the keystones of effective government services. Never are they more urgent than when normal operations are disrupted—for example, by hazardous materials spills, accidents, weather, contamination, attack, or pandemic. During these and other emergencies, local, state, federal civilian, and federal defense agencies must coordinate their activities and follow operational procedures to save lives, minimize property loss, protect the environment, and achieve a timely and orderly recovery to normal operations.
Smartphones and other handheld devices support government continuity of operations (COOP) by enabling its central tenets: decentralization and redundancy. Decentralized command and control becomes possible when government employees and public safety personnel can communicate and access vital information from the field as readily as if they were at their desks. Redundant communications options for smartphones— voice, short message service (SMS) text messaging, and email over cellular, WiFi, and satellite networks—enable uninterrupted communications and information access even if one network becomes unavailable.
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