This workflow assumes that you have installed ArcGIS Mission Responder but have not yet used it to engage in a mission. You'll learn about the various tools that are part of Responder and how and why to use them.
Upon opening the app and signing in, you are taken to the mission list. Tap your mission to enter it.
Mission familiarization
You are now in the mission overview. You have entered the mission but are not yet an active member. The status icon in the upper right corner indicates your status with an orange dot.
Prepare for the mission by inspecting the mission details and resources.
The following tabs are available in the mission overview:
- On the Map Areas tab, you can see the live mission map and any map areas that are available for offline use. If there are any, download them prior to entering the mission in case you lose connection to the live mission map.
- On the Mission Details tab, you can view the mission summary and description to familiarize yourself with the mission.
- Tap Mission Teams and Members to view the list of mission members and see how they are organized into teams. You can see who is active and inactive and gain a better understanding of who you will be able to communicate directly with during the mission.
- Tap Additional Materials to see if any resources are available to you. These can be valuable additions to the summary and description and may be necessary to execute your mission's objective.
When you are finished exploring the overview and have downloaded any maps or materials, proceed to the active mission.
To enter the active mission, tap the live mission map.
Active mission — Map familiarization
You have transitioned into active status and are visible on the map. When you initially enter the mission map, your current location is centered on the map.
- Orient yourself to the map. Inspect the mission area, note any relevant graphics or labels, and read any geomessages that are visible to you.
Any visible geomessages include you as a recipient and are relevant to you.
- Check your map options, as there may be features there you are unaware of that may be useful to you during the mission. Review any bookmarks and determine whether the map contains layers.
- Review the basemap options, as the default basemap may not display the map information that is most relevant to you, based on your role in the mission.
- Use the Team Extent tool to check your team's location. This gives you better situational awareness of the team's capabilities and area of effect.
Active mission — Responder actions
There are several tools into ArcGIS Mission Responder that allow you to provide information to others. Two of these are the GeoMessage and Chat tools.
These tools differ from other tools, such as walkie-talkies, in that they create lasting data that is stored and can be accessed later for analysis. Also this data is geolocated, which provides a better understanding of the situation.
- Events relevant to the mission can be documented with the GeoMessage tool. Choose a location on the mission map where you want to place a geomessage.
You may want to provide context to a location by referencing other locations around it. This can mean, among other things, providing cardinal directions, distances, or a combination of the two.
- Choose a feature on the map near where you want to place your geomessage. The feature should be easily recognizable and relevant to the mission.
- Open the Measure tool and find the distance between the geomessage location and the notable map feature. Make sure that your measurements use the most informative unit. For example, avoid using large units for short distances. Make note of the distance.
- Find the location of your geomessage and drop a Point of Interest.
- Add a title, a note including the distance to your previously chosen map feature, and a photo of the event or place. This will ensure that other mission members have the greatest understanding possible of what you are documenting.
- Send that geomessage to the entire mission.
After sending a geomessage, it's a good idea to confirm that it made it to the rest of the mission. The best way to do that is to check the mission feed.
- Open the mission feed and locate your geomessage.
In missions with a large number of active members, the mission feed can be populated very quickly, which may necessitate scrolling through it until you find your geomessage.
- When you find your geomessage, tap it to confirm your details and view it on the map.
Your geomessage may be more relevant to certain mission members than others. To make sure that the information reaches the intended mission members, at the time they need it, alert them specifically to its relevance. The best way to do that is with a chat.
- Locate the chat tool and start a new chat session.
- Select the members who need to be directly alerted to the geomessage.
- Write your message, explaining why they, specifically, need to review your geomessage.
- Send your chat.
In this workflow, you used all the tools included in ArcGIS Mission Responder. However, you have not used all the functionality of those tools. Now that you're more familiar with ArcGIS Mission Responder and know how to access the tools, you can explore them. For details about the app and its tools, see Introduction to ArcGIS Mission Responder.