What Active SOS eMNS Is
Active SOS eMNS (Emergency Mass Notification System) is a software service from Calm Water Trading, LLC dba Active SOS, a private technology company in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It lets an organization, such as an employer, a hospital, a school or a community group, quickly notify its own people by text message, and on other channels where offered, during an emergency, and run drills and tests so everyone knows what to expect.
Active SOS is a software provider. It is not a government agency, a first responder or an emergency dispatch service, and it does not respond to emergencies. The organization that uses eMNS decides who is notified and what the message says.
Status of Active SOS eMNS. Active SOS eMNS is a proposed solution for a national emergency management system. We are working with military contacts toward that goal, and it is under development. It is built on the same kind of platform as our Protect, VetProtect and Connect solutions. It is not an active, approved or endorsed government solution. Today it is offered only as a notification service to private organizations for their own enrolled people.
Who Sends and Who Receives
Senders: authorized administrators and senders at a participating organization. Each organization sees only its own roster, messages and results.
Recipients: the organization’s own personnel, members or volunteers who have agreed to receive alerts. Every message names the organization it comes from and is identified as Active SOS eMNS.
eMNS is an operational safety service, not a marketing program. No promotional, advertising, fundraising or third-party messages are sent.
How It Works
- Roster. The organization adds people, their mobile numbers and their groups. Being on a roster does not by itself permit text messages.
- Enrollment and consent. Each person receives a personal enrollment link, signs a paper form, or texts START after being told about the program. They agree to the consent statement themselves. The box is never pre-checked.
- Send. An authorized sender picks a group and sends an alert, a drill or a test. Drills and tests are always labeled [DRILL] or [TEST]. Only people who have agreed and have not opted out are texted.
- Acknowledge. Recipients can reply SAFE. A reply that signals trouble goes straight to the organization’s staff as a priority item.
- Review. The organization sees a live roll call of who is safe and who has not answered, and can download an after-action report.
Channels & Fallback
One alert can go out on several channels at once, or in the order the organization sets. The channels are text message, email, automated voice call and a pop-up alert on Windows computers.
- Text message. Recipients reply SAFE, or SOS if they need help. Any other reply goes to the organization’s staff.
- Email. Carries the alert and its details. Email is a notification channel, so people answer on the text, call or desktop alert.
- Voice call. An automated call reads the alert aloud. Press 1 if you are safe, 2 if you need help, or 9 to stop calls.
- Desktop alert. A pop-up on the person’s work computer with I’M SAFE and I NEED HELP buttons, delivered by the Active SOS eMNS desktop agent after the computer is paired with a one-time code.
Timed fallback. If a channel does not deliver, the next channel goes out automatically. For example, by default a desktop alert that is not delivered within about two minutes releases the next channel, and a computer that reconnects within six hours still receives the alert.
One step to answer. Whichever channel a person uses, answering is a single step, and each person counts once in the roll call.
Which channels an organization uses depends on how its service is set up. Texts and calls are sent only to people who have agreed to receive them and have not opted out. Email respects opt-outs and bounced addresses.
Roll Call, Map & Records
- Live roll call. The organization sees, with names, who is safe, who needs help, who replied, who is still being sent to and who is not yet accounted for. A request for help is counted at once and opens a critical item for staff.
- Map. When a person sends an alert from the Active SOS app, it counts in the roll call and appears as a pin on a map: red for SOS, green for safe. Pins appear only when the alert includes a location. People who answered without a location are listed beside the map.
- Timeline and after-action report. Every step is recorded in order: queued, sent, delivered, undelivered, escalated and acknowledged. The organization can download the report as a CSV or PDF.
- Audit trail. Sends, answers and administrative changes are logged.
The Active SOS App
The Active SOS app is the field half of the system. A person taps SOS or Safe and adds a short reason. The app sends the alert word, the reason, the person’s name and phone, and a map link with their GPS location to the organization’s eMNS number.
eMNS recognizes the alert and counts it in the roll call. An SOS opens a critical item for staff with a “View location” link, and staff can reply to the person from the same screen.
Safety without surveillance. Location is sent only when the person sends an alert. There is no background tracking. See Location Services for how the app handles location.
Security & Deployment
- Separated organizations. Each organization’s people, alerts and answers are kept apart from every other organization’s.
- Role-based access. Staff see and do only what their role allows. Employees see only their own record.
- Outbound-only desktop agent. The agent connects out over HTTPS. Nothing connects in to the computer.
- Hashed credentials. Pairing codes and device tokens are stored only as hashes. On the computer, the token is encrypted by Windows.
- Logging. Administrative actions and device changes are written to an audit log.
- Deployment. eMNS runs as a cloud service today. A portable container build for customer-controlled environments is in development.
These are design features, not certifications. Active SOS eMNS has not been assessed or approved by any government authority.
Request a Demo
See a drill sent, answered and accounted for in about thirty minutes.
Message Types
- Emergency alerts with instructions from the organization, such as shelter in place or evacuate
- All-clear and update messages after an alert
- Drill and test notices, labeled [DRILL] or [TEST]
- Safety check-in requests asking recipients to reply SAFE
- Consent confirmations, such as replies to START, STOP and HELP
Message frequency varies with the organization’s emergencies, drills and check-ins, and is typically low. Message and data rates may apply. Active SOS does not charge recipients.
Consent & Your Control
Texts are sent only to people who agreed. See exactly what people agree to, and how, on the eMNS SMS Consent page.
Reply STOP to any message to opt out at any time, START to rejoin and HELP for help. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.
Not a Replacement for 911
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. eMNS text alerts are a notification tool, and delivery depends on wireless carriers. Do not rely on text messages as your only source of emergency information.
Policies & Contact
Active SOS (Calm Water Trading, LLC)
Email: support@activesos.com
Phone: (405) 590-1851
Address: 12520 Rockwood Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73170