Mobile Messaging Applications for First Responders Market Survey Report March 2021 Approved for Public Release SAVER-T-MSR-26 The Mobile Messaging Applications for First Responders Market Survey Report was prepared by the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, processes, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government. The information and statements contained herein shall not be used for the purposes of advertising, nor to imply the endorsement or recommendation of the U.S. Government. With respect to documentation contained herein, neither the U.S. Government nor any of its employees make any warranty, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Further, neither the U.S. Government nor any of its employees assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed; nor do they represent that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. The cover photo and images included herein were provided by the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory, unless otherwise noted. Approved for Public Release ii FOREWORD The National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) is a federal laboratory organized within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). Located in New York City, NUSTL is the only national laboratory focused exclusively on supporting the capabilities of state and local first responders to address the homeland security mission. The laboratory provides first responders with the necessary services, products, and tools to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from homeland security threats and events. NUSTL manages the System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) Program, which conducts objective assessments and validations on commercially available equipment and systems and develops knowledge products that provide relevant equipment information to the emergency responder community. The SAVER Program mission includes: • Conducting impartial, practitioner-relevant, operationally oriented assessments and validations of emergency response equipment. • Providing information, in the form of knowledge products, that enables decision-makers and responders to better select, procure, use, and maintain emergency response equipment. SAVER Program knowledge products provide information on equipment that falls under the categories listed in the DHS Authorized Equipment List (AEL), focusing primarily on two main questions for the responder community: “What equipment is available?” and “How does it perform?” These knowledge products are shared nationally with the responder community, providing a life- and cost-saving asset to DHS, as well as to federal, state, and local responders. NUSTL is responsible for all SAVER activities, including selecting and prioritizing program topics, developing SAVER knowledge products, coordinating with other organizations, and ensuring flexibility and responsiveness to first responder requirements. NUSTL provides expertise and analysis on a wide range of key subject areas, including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive weapons detection; emergency response and recovery; and related equipment, instrumentation, and technologies. In support of this tasking, NUSTL conducted a market survey of mobile messaging applications for first responders. These technologies fall under AEL reference numbers: 04AP01, 04AP02, 04AP03, 04AP05, 04AP09, 04HW01, 06CC01, and 06CC02. Visit the SAVER website at www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/SAVER for more information on the SAVER Program, or to view additional reports on mobile messaging applications and other technologies. Visit the NUSTL website at www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/national-urban-security- technology-laboratory, or contact [email protected] for more information. Approved for Public Release iii POINT OF CONTACT National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate 201 Varick Street New York, NY 10014 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/SAVER Author: Bhargav Patel, Mechanical Engineer Approved for Public Release iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Smart phones and other mobile devices are ubiquitous in our society. First responder agencies are increasingly adapting and implementing mobile technologies into their day-to-day operations, in part because these devices can increase their capabilities in two critical domains: situational awareness and communications and information sharing. This market survey report contains 23 different mobile messaging applications that could potentially be leveraged by first responders when responding to incidents and emergencies. Some of these applications were developed with first responders explicitly in mind as the primary end users, while others, developed for the broader consumer marketplace, may also lend themselves to first responder applications. When searching for a mobile messaging solution to enhance situational awareness, communication and information sharing in a secure and reliable manner, first responder organizations have many viable options to explore and from which to select a tool that meets their specific needs. Approved for Public Release v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 8 2.0 Mobile Messaging Applications Overview .......................................................................................... 9 2.1 Priority Features for First Responders ........................................................................................... 9 2.2 FirstNet............................................................................................................................................. 9 3.0 Product Information .......................................................................................................................... 11 3.1 AT&T Enhanced Push-to-Talk – AT&T .......................................................................................... 14 3.2 Civilian Team Awareness Kit for Android (ATAK-Civ) – Airforce Research Laboratory ............. 14 3.3 Bridge4PS – Mobility4PS .............................................................................................................. 14 3.4 D4H Incident Management – D4H Technologies ....................................................................... 15 3.5 DragonForce – Drakontas ............................................................................................................ 15 3.6 ESChat – SLA Corporation ............................................................................................................ 15 3.7 Evertel – The Halstead Group, LLC .............................................................................................. 16 3.8 Hangouts – Google ........................................................................................................................ 16 3.9 Haystax – Fishtech Group Inc. ...................................................................................................... 16 3.10 Hiplink Mobile – Hiplink Software.............................................................................................. 17 3.11 iMessage – Apple ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.12 Intrepid Response Platform – Intrepid Networks LLC .............................................................. 17 3.13 Mutualink Edge @Team – Mutualink Inc. ................................................................................. 17 3.14 Orion Push-to-Talk – Orion Labs Inc. ......................................................................................... 18 3.15 PublicEye – Zco Corporation ...................................................................................................... 18 3.16 Signal – Signal Foundation ........................................................................................................ 18 3.17 Teams – Microsoft ...................................................................................................................... 18 3.18 Slack – Slack Technologies ........................................................................................................ 19 3.19 Stashcat – Heinekingmedia GmbH ........................................................................................... 19 3.20 TangoTango – Tango Tango Inc. ................................................................................................ 19 3.21 Teamwire – Teamwire. ............................................................................................................... 20 3.22 WhatsApp – Facebook Inc. ......................................................................................................... 20 4.0 Vendor Information ..........................................................................................................................