EPA Turns to Video Conferencing
EPA Turns to Video Conferencing
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC), part of the EPA’s Office of Emergency Management, acts as the nerve center in the event of a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or other incident of national significance. As such, the EOC coordinates the response with other agencies, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Center for Disease Control, and other state and local agencies.
More than two decades ago, EPA leaders had a vision of what was needed to react more effectivelya powerful communications infrastructure that provides instant decision-making capabilities. In the twenty years since, the operation has grown from a “bank of telephones and a few computers” of that era to today’s leading-edge facility, which employs communications technologies to serve in the event of a natural or man-made emergency.
The EOC utilizes TANDBERG video as part of an infrastructure that supports the highest level of communication.
While the designers originally thought this facility would be used only for occasional emergency responses and high-level executive meetings, it has instead turned out to be a very popular resource. Regular cross-regional meetings, project collaboration, trainings, simulation exercises, and more are part of the EOC’s growing list of applications.
The EOC’s vision is the same today as it was twenty-odd years agoto maintain an infrastructure that supports a highly effective emergency response. Whether serving as an operations hub to monitor local or national incidents or events, or in the aftermath of a disaster like the space shuttle Columbia or Hurricane Katrina, coordinating the emergency response of agencies assets organizations and individuals, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is a model facility for visual communication.
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