Overview#
A critical infrastructure operator's primary communications network goes down during a major incident. Their teams need to coordinate, but the usual channels are unavailable. Within minutes, the pre-configured contingency plan activates: communication failover switches to the satellite mesh network, emergency contact lists are distributed to response teams, and the PSAP integration routes emergency calls through backup channels. The plan was prepared before the crisis; execution is automatic.
That is what the Contingency Plan domain delivers: documented, tested, executable response plans that activate when normal operations fail.
Key Features#
- Contingency plan creation and lifecycle management.
- Plan activation and deactivation workflows.
- Communication failover integration with satellite mesh.
- Contact method management for emergency scenarios.
- Emergency services integration with PSAP systems.
- Organisation-scoped plan management with access control.
- Plan versioning and update tracking.
- Audit trail for plan activations and modifications.
Use Cases#
Critical infrastructure operators create and maintain operational contingency plans for network and system disruptions, ensuring that response procedures are documented, tested, and ready for immediate execution rather than improvised under pressure.
Emergency management agencies activate pre-configured response plans during service disruptions, switching to satellite communications and PSAP integration without requiring manual coordination at the moment of crisis.
Defence and government organisations manage communication failover procedures across satellite and terrestrial networks, with versioned plans ensuring that every team member is operating from the current approved procedure.
Multi-agency response coordinators link contingency plans to PSAP emergency services, ensuring that when primary communications fail, emergency call routing continues through documented backup channels.
Integration#
Integrates with satellite mesh communications, contact management, and PSAP emergency services for end-to-end contingency response.
Open Standards#
- GraphQL (June 2018 specification): All contingency plan operations, queries, mutations, and summary aggregations, are exposed through a typed GraphQL API, enabling interoperable clients to create, retrieve, update, and delete plans using a self-describing schema.
- RFC 6455 (WebSocket Protocol): Real-time activation events and plan state changes are broadcast to subscribers over persistent WebSocket connections, allowing operators and dashboards to receive instant notification when a contingency plan is triggered or modified.
- JSON Web Token / RFC 7519 (RS256 with JWKS): Every API request is authenticated via an RS256-signed JWT validated against a published JWKS endpoint; access to contingency plan records is gated behind this standard token-verification flow.
- ISO 8601 (Date and Time Format): All plan timestamps, creation, last update, and broadcast event time, are serialised in ISO 8601 format, ensuring consistent chronological ordering across multi-agency and multi-timezone deployments.
- OASIS CACAO v2.0 (Collaborative Automated Course of Action Operations): The platform's CACAO adapter parses and serialises machine-executable playbooks that map directly onto contingency plan workflows, enabling automated, step-by-step execution of pre-approved response procedures.
- OASIS EDXL-DE 2.0 (Emergency Data Exchange Language Distribution Element): Contingency plans that activate communication failover are routed through the EDXL Distribution Element envelope, the standard packaging format for distributing emergency messages across agencies.
- NENA i3 / NG911 (Next Generation 9-1-1 Standards): PSAP integration within the contingency plan activation path follows NENA i3 standards for emergency call routing, ensuring that backup call channels remain compliant with NG911 interoperability requirements when primary communications fail.
Last Reviewed: 2026-02-05 Last Updated: 2026-04-14