Bureau of Preparedness and Response
Virtual Joint Information Center
Standard Operating Guidelines
June 22, 2011
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Virtual Joint Information Center (JIC) Process
Executive Summary
During an emergency or disaster, assembling key Joint Information Center (JIC) staff at the
appropriate location may be impossible or ill-advised. A virtual JIC serves the need for timely
information gathering and disseminating in a response by collecting information from
responders and JIC staff across a wide area and developing essential tools in an online setting.
The functionality of a physical JIC can be mimicked in a virtual JIC from development and
dissemination of messages to collaborative discussions via email or threaded bulletin board
chats. Media monitoring, internal messaging, and rumor investigation and control capabilities
can also function at full capacity in this format.
This scalable process can be activated for smaller incidents or for larger responses. The use of
this process is appropriate during an Emergency Support Function (ESF)-8 event or a targeted
activation at the local, regional, and state level. The process takes the place of a physical JIC or
the Information Management Branch or Unit (IMB/IMU) - which can be part of the Operations or
Planning Section - and other branches of the Incident Command structure.
The proposed guidance utilizes already existing tools at the Florida Department of Health along
with open-source, web-based or cloud-based software at no cost to users. These tools are
intended to provide functionality and three-deep redundancy in a disaster situation.
These Standard Operating Guidelines are to be used during a response with and align to the
Rumor Investigation and Control, Media Monitoring, and Internal Messaging Standard Operating
Guidelines, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) Crisis and Emergency Risk
Communication (CERC) Annex, and the state JIC/Joint Information System (JIS) Guidelines.
This dynamic document is based on a survey of FDOH public information officers.
Overview
A virtual JIC is a crucial part of the Joint Information System (JIS). It allows responding public
information officers (PIOs) in many locations to post and access the latest verified information
from an online location. In addition to providing crucial information throughout the emergency,
the virtual JIC can be used to share information before a physical JIC has been established.
The operation of a virtual JIC allows interaction among incident-management sites, and ensures
delivery of consistent, timely information to those who need it.
A virtual JIC collects information from many sources and assembles it in one place. If needed,
multiple state agencies, partners, and county and city governments may contribute information
through a virtual JIC.
During an emergency or disaster, authorities can feed critical information from the affected
areas to JIC staff for assessment and potential message development and distribution. The lead
agency’s Office of Communications Director or delegated authority may then place selected
information from the virtual JIC to an external website for the public to complement information
disseminated through traditional media.
Message development and approval will occur based on established procedures in the Crisis
and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC) Annex and JIC/JIS Guidelines. The virtual JIC
will provide templates, key messages to and from stakeholders, fact sheets, and frequently
asked questions as deemed necessary by the JIC Lead.
These virtual JIC standard operations guidelines (SOG) provide procedures for setting up a
virtual JIC operation within the scope of a given response, as well as maintaining its level of
functionality as the response mandates. The scope of the process is event and location specific
with focus on the county but, not exceeding the state of Florida.
For this report, the process for a state level virtual JIC will be clarified with advisement for
counties and regions. Prior to its development, an assessment tool was developed and
implemented to determine the experience and needs of CHD PIOs during prior responses.
Questions included open- and closed-ended, multiple choice, and Likert Scale. Survey
questions inquired about the preferred access points and materials needed. Results were
analyzed and are reflected in this SOG in Attachment C.
Access Points
The Virtual JIC is comprised of information that could be accessed in several locations. State
and county level responses have the opportunity to determine how they would like their virtual
JIC to come together with multiple access points. Existing capabilities are available as are open
source tools.
Although a social media policy has not been fully implemented, FDOH continues to support a
YouTube channel along with an online newsroom where audio and video files are stored. Based
on the success of both of these tools, audio/video files would not be maintained on the virtual
JIC software in an effort to save space and maintain access speed.
At the internal level for smaller events, the virtual JIC can be sustained utilizing internal tools
only available to FDOH employees within the FDOH firewall. Event specific information could be
accessed from any of the following with primary two-way communication taking place via email
and phone calls.

Crisis and Risk Communications Web Site
http://dohiws/Divisions/DEMO/CommsCERC/commhome.html

Event specific internal web site (dark pages)

Sharepoint site located in the Office of Communications
At the external level for smaller events, the virtual JIC can be sustained utilizing external
tools available to FDOH employees, partners, the public, and the media outside the FDOH
firewall. Transparent event specific information could be accessed from any of the following with
primary two-way communication taking place via email and phone calls.

Event specific external website (dark pages)

Crisis and Risk Communications Web Site (under development)
http://dohiws/Divisions/DEMO/CommsCERC/commhome.html
For larger events at the internal level requiring a greater level of information security, the
virtual JIC can be sustained utilizing password protected sites available only to internal and
external responders specific to the incident. This capability is helpful in the event the FDOH
server is unavailable or external responders are unable to access information within the FDOH
firewall. The web-based capability will allow for access from any point on the globe with Internet
access while providing a layer of password protected security. Primary or secondary two-way
communication can also take place via the threaded discussion feature capability or via email
and phone calls.

FDENS Document Library/Discussions (see Attachments B)
www.fdens.com

DropBox, Doodle, and Google Groups (see Attachments A and B)
www.dropbox.com
www.doodle.com
www.google.com

Collanos Workspace (see Attachments A and B)
www.collanos.com
Although the majority of the access points are provided as a turn key system, others may need
minimal guidance to access the information in other areas.
Information Storage and Access
Several of the tools provide document management capabilities for storing and organizing
media kits, fact sheets, and other information resources. These are easily accessible but kept
on password-protected sites. These include:

FDENS Document Library (see Attachment B)
www.fdens.com

DropBox (see Attachments A and B)
www.dropbox.com

Collanos Workspace (see Attachments A and B)
www.collanos.com
Collaborative Communication
During a response, JIC participants will often want to communicate about a situation or a
problem that may arise. Email and phone calls are often used to bridge the need to
communicate with others. In the event, email or phones are unavailable, online options are
available with various levels of security and the capability to capture threaded conversations.
These include:

FDENS Discussions (see Attachment B)
www.fdens.com

Google Groups (see Attachments A and B)
www.google.com

Collanos Workspace (see Attachments A and B)
www.collanos.com
Additional Attachments:
Attachment A: Open Source Virtual JIC Tools
Attachment B: Role of proposed tools – Alphabetized
Attachment C: Assessment Results
*Sources: FDENS, Florida RDSTF JIC/JIS Guidelines, FDOH CERC Annex, Oregon
Department of Human Services, Osceola CHD, Volusia CHD, CDC, Florida State University
College of Communication and Information Science, Clinton (NY) CHD, Google, DropBox,
Doodle, Collanos.
Attachment A - Open Source Virtual JIC Tools
DropBox
www.dropbox.com
 Use for storing documents, photos, templates, etc.
 Free for up to 2 GB of file storage; monthly charge thereafter.
 Can invite potential recipients allowing an icon-access point to reside on their desktop or
can access with username and password.
 Can access from any location worldwide.
 Can update files in one location and see the updates across the saved locations.
 Can manage who has access to folders – add and delete as needed.
Doodle
www.doodle.com
 Use for scheduling meetings and setting up polls.
 Free no matter how frequently it is used.
 Can access from any location worldwide.
 Convenient for scheduling meetings and events across platforms i.e. Microsoft Outlook,
Google Calendar, etc.
Google Groups
www.google.com
 Free online discussion group.
 Threaded conversations take place in real time.
 Can access from any location worldwide.
 Convenient for discussions that need a paper trail or for when a conference call is
unavailable.
Collanos Workspace
www.collanos.com
 Free download and use no matter how frequently it is used
 Can manage several projects at once
 Can work online and offline
 Can invite unlimited team members, communicate with them in real-time or
asynchronously, assign them distinct permissions and know their presence status any
time.
 Can notify team members of updates to documents
 Can integrate and share any project-related content including images, music, and video
files.
 Can instant message team members.
Attachment B - Role of proposed tools - Alphabetized
Collanos Workspace – open source, password-protected, Internet-based (cloud) site offering a
single location to store documents, invite teammates to participate, communicate with teams in
real time, notify teams of document revisions, and share files in multiple formats; accessible
outside the DOH firewall
Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Web Site – provide information, FAQs, release
templates, and other resources for PIOs on various hazards, diseases, and bioterrorism
weapons
Doodle – open source, password-protected, Internet-based (cloud) site offering a single
location to conveniently schedule meetings and events across platforms i.e. Microsoft Outlook,
Google Calendar, etc. and set up polls; accessible outside the DOH firewall
DropBox - open source, password-protected, Internet-based (cloud) site offering a single
location to store and manage documents and files of different formats, user access, and offer
single point updates to documents for users; free for up to 2 GB of file storage; monthly charge
thereafter; accessible outside the DOH firewall
Event specific external website (dark pages) - customized site page offering event-specific
information to the general public and external partners (i.e. emergency responders, healthcare
professionals, hospitals, etc.)
Event specific internal web site (dark pages) – customized site page offering information,
resources, and tools specific to the event to internal audiences (i.e. responders, PIOs, support
staff, etc.)
FDENS Document Library/Discussions – web-based, password-protected site housed within
the DOH Emergency Notification System offering a location for all information from the Crisis
and Risk Communication site and event-specific site to be housed and for online discussions to
take place among internal and external audiences; available outside the DOH firewall for partner
access: overview and training guide available at
https://portal.fdens.com/DocumentCenter/Lists/News/DispForm.aspx?ID=15
Google Groups – open source, password-protected, Internet-based (cloud) site offering a
single location to paper trail threaded, real-time, online discussions; accessible outside the DOH
firewall
Sharepoint site located in the Office of Communications – redundant communication site
for PIOs providing similar information as found on the Crisis and Emergency Risk
Communication site
Attachment C - Assessment Results
The results of the PIO assessment of training and virtual JICs were implemented in February
2010.
The following data pertains to the responses received about virtual JICs:

76.8% have never worked with a virtual JIC (N=181)

79.4% don’t have a virtual JIC (N=175)

PIOs strongly agree or agree that they prefer the following attributes in a virtual JIC
(N=175):
o Offers media kits and other approved materials for dissemination – 93.1%
o Ease of use – 92%
o Provides links to other pertinent sites – 88.5%
o Accessibility outside the DOH firewall – 88%
o Interactive capability – 86.1%
o Includes reference information re: all hazards – 85.2%
o Accessibility inside the DOH firewall – 82.6%

PIOs felt accessing information during a response was easiest through (N=173):
o Password protected website – 72.6%
o DOH Office of Communications Website – 71.6%
o DOH Office of Communications Sharepoint – 64.1%
o FDENS – 59.1%
o Non-DOH website – 57.7%
o J Drive – 46.9%