National Communications System NCS TIMACS Overview for ESF

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National Communications System (NCS)TIMACS
Overview for ESF 2
Dwayne Hill Services Branch Director DHS/Preparedn
ess/FEMA Florida Long Term Recovery 703-463-1387
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What is TIMACS?

• Telecommunications Information Management and
  Control System
• Provides a centralized means for requesting
  services and equipment
• Provides the ability to track requests through
  fulfillment of the operational need

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Requirements to use TIMACS

• Must have TIMACS user account
• Should be requested through FEMA Regional IT
  Branch Chief
• Must be connected to FEMA intranet
• Must coordinate requests with FEMA Communications
  Unit Lead/IT Coordinator
• TIMACS tracking number needs to be provided
• Possibly a screen capture or printout of order
  should be sent via email

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TIMACS conceptual flow
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How the process works

• Order submitted and routed to FEMA Telecom
  Services Center (TSC)
• Based off of request information, TSC routes
  request to the appropriate area to meet the
  requirements of the order
• Examples of where they route to are
• FEMA Disaster Response (DR) for Managed Network
  Switches, G3/PBX equipment
• Disaster Information Systems Clearinghouse (DISC)
  for FEMA laptops, cell phones, digital cameras
• Verizon Contracting for service orders for
  Data/Voice T1s, DSL and POTS lines
• Contracting for equipment and services not
  provided by these other sources
• Possibly not routed, but denoted as Mission
  Assigned in notes

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Example ESF 2 Mission Assigned TIMACS Order
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ESF 2 Example continued

• Outside Notes

TIMACS Status information inside the request
TIMACS Vendor Information inside the request
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Login Screen

• https//timacs.fema.net on the FEMA Intranet

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View after login

• Most likely you will be restricted to only the
  orders you have created
• To begin an order simply select the New Request
  button

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Blank Request Form
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Important Information to fill in

• Items 1-6 - fairly self explanatory, just
  remember that the contact information should be
  the person that will be interacting with the
  contractor/service providers. If that is a field
  person and not the requestor make sure you
  include their information
• Item 7 - whether it is disaster related will
  almost always be Yes
• Item 8 Activity - this is important because of
  how funding will be done ensure that you choose
  the correct DR number or EM number. If they are
  not available you can always assign it to the
  region and make notes in the Full description
  stating where the funding should come from (Surge
  Account, or DR/EM that is not in the drop down
  currently.)
• Item 9 Location - will be where the
  service/request is going to, if possible. Some
  sites may not be in the pull down get as close
  as possible, or just use the city/state of the
  RRCC where you are working

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Entering information continued

• Item 10 - is a number for your own records if
  need be you can add to the order
• Item 11- is faxed attachments that lets the TSC
  know you have faxed information about the current
  order to them like a quote or source to check or
  a large amount of information such as cell
  numbers. Please put in comments about who and
  where you faxed the information in the full
  description
• Item 12 - is very important because it needs to
  describe what you are requesting since it is one
  of the few searchable fields in TIMACS. Please
  try not to use a generic Request for equipment
  and services, and try to use something
  describing what type of service such as
  Requesting mobile satellite unit with service

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Entering information continued

• Item 13 - is where all the information specifics
  need to be. If anything needs to added in for
  extra information about the service or equipment
  this is the place to do it
• Some items to include will be
• Mission Assignment Number if pertinent
• Verbose description of what is being ordered, and
  any necessary justifications or authorizations
• Where Information was faxed to if faxes were
  involved
• If this TIMACS is just to track orders done
  already, you should note that here
• Vendor or other Points of Contact useful for
  sourcing, or information gathering
• 40-1 numbers being used to fund the request

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Entering information continued

• Item 14 - is the Delivery Location, and this
  needs to be as accurate as possible. Please
  ensure that if there is a specific receiving
  official such as and Accountable Property Officer
  that the persons name is included in this
  section. Phone numbers and contact information
  here help with both service and equipment delivery

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TIMACS order status

• The various status comments in TIMACS are
• New Request TSC has not done any processing yet
• Being Quoted Service or equipment is being
  sourced
• Orders Issued Service or equipment has been
  ordered
• Under Review (Final) Service or equipment have
  been delivered
• Complete Service or equipment have been
  received with no problems
• Canceled Need has been met another way or no
  longer a valid request
• Rejected (Final) Service or equipment need
  determined to be invalid

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Things to remember

• Make sure the FEMA Comm. Unit Leader/IT
  Coordinator are aware of requirements prior to
  the order being placed
• Once the order is placed, make sure the FEMA
  Comm. Unit Leader has a copy of the order and
  order number