Priority Telecommunications Services

Government Emergency Telecommunications Service is an emergency communications service designed to be used when National Security and Emergency Preparedness personnel are unable to complete emergency calls through their regular telecommunications means. GETS uses a calling card to provide federal, state, local government and industry NS/EP users with a higher probability of call completion during periods of natural or man-made disasters or emergencies that cause congestion or network outages. GETS features are implemented as software enhancements to the telephone switches throughout the Public Switched Network.  GETS can be used in conjunction with Wireless Priority Service.

GETS access control is accomplished through the use of Personal Identification Numbers to ensure only authorized users gain access to GETS features and protect against fraud.

Wireless Priority Service allows authorized National Security/Emergency Preparedness personnel to initiate calls during an emergency when cellular networks may be congested. During emergencies, cellular providers can experience congestion in their networks, severely curtailing the ability to use cellular services. To facilitate completion of critical calls during these high usage events, WPS gives authorized NS/EP personnel priority cellular access before subscribers who do not have WPS. WPS will not preempt calls in progress and does not guarantee call completion.

WPS gives authorized NS/EP personnel priority access to available cellular resources during emergency situations. In addition, WPS is complementary to, and can be used in conjunction with, the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service card. This ensures a high probability of call completion in both the landline and cellular portions of the Public Switched Network. Not all wireless providers currently offer the WPS feature. If the agency's current wireless provider does not offer the WPS feature, the agency must be willing to cancel service with the provider and establish service with a vendor who does offer the feature.

The Telecommunications Service Priority program provides service vendors with a Federal Communications Commission mandate for prioritizing service requests by identifying those services critical to national security/emergency preparedness. A telecommunications service with a TSP assignment is assured of receiving full attention by service vendors before a non-TSP service. 

TSP is offered for both provisioning and restoration.

• Provisioning priority is obtained to facilitate priority installation of new telecommunications services.
• Restoration priority is applied to new or existing telecommunications services to ensure restoration before any other service. Priority restoration is necessary for a TSP service because interruptions may have an adverse effect on the supported NSEP function. Telecommunications service vendors should restore existing TSP services before provisioning new TSP services. Users should be aware that TSP restoration priorities must be requested and assigned before a service outage occurs. 

The TSP system provides a coding scheme for the priority provisioning and restoration of National Security Emergency Preparedness telecommunications services. NSEP telecommunications services are those services critical to the maintenance of a state of readiness or response to and management of any event or crisis that causes or could cause harm to the population, damage property, or threaten the security of the United States. Only organizations that meet the NSEP requirements are able to get this service.

Organization Eligibility

Organizations eligible for a TSP assignment include, but are not limited to:

• Federal government
• State governments
• Local governments
• Foreign governments

Categories of Service

TSP categories are as follows:

• Category A: National security leadership
• Category B: National security posture and U.S. population in attack warning
• Category C: Public health, safety, and maintenance of law and order
• Category D: Public welfare and maintenance of national economic posture
• Category E: Emergency

GETS

There is no one time or monthly recurring charge for GETS. GETS calls are billed at a rate of $0.10 or $0.74 per minute (depending on the carrier) for calls within the US and its territories, Canada, and most of the Caribbean. International and operator-assisted calls are billed at commercial rates. GETS usage will be billed on the OTS bill and supporting documentation will be mailed to users.

Actual cost plus 3%. A Support Service fee of 0.5% shall be applied to the monthly cost of this service.

Agencies will be billed for costs of mailing GETS cards, to include:

• Return Receipt
• Certification
• Postage determined by the size of the package

WPS

Costs may vary by cellular provider, but they are limited to a maximum of:

• $10.00 one-time activation fee
• $4.50 per month service fee
• $0.75 per minute for WPS (*272) calls

WPS charges are in addition to the basic calling plan. Applicable charges will be billed on the agency's cellular services bill.

TSP

When considering this service, agencies should contact OTS to obtain pricing. There are one-time charges from vendors for TSP priority provisioning and monthly recurring charges from vendors for TSP priority restoration.  TSP charges are billed through OTS.

A Support Service fee of 0.5% shall be applied to the monthly cost of this service.

GETS

To be eligible for GETS, an organization must have requirements for emergency telephone services and qualify as a part of the National Security/Emergency Preparedness community, defined by the National Communications System as governmental or non-governmental organizations that directly support at least one of the following:

• National Security Leadership
• National Security Posture and Population Warning
• Public Health, Safety, and the Maintenance of Law and Order
• Public Welfare and Maintenance of the National Economic Posture
• Disaster Recovery

Agency telecommunications coordinators must request GETS cards on GETS/WPS Request Form 26. Fill out the sections which pertain to the GETS card request and email the form to one of the OTS contact names listed above.

GETS cards will be mailed to users outside the Baton Rouge area by Certified Mail Return Receipt. Users in the Baton Rouge area may pick up and sign for GETS cards. To do this, the user should make an appointment with one of the OTS contacts listed above to pick up the card at OTS. Otherwise, the card will be mailed to the agency by Certified Mail Return Receipt. The GETS card is sent to the addressee with a return receipt card attached. Either the addressee or an agent must sign for the item within three days or the item will be returned to OTS. The cost of the Certified Mail Return Receipt will be passed to the agency via the OTS bill.

WPS

Key federal, state, and local government personnel who service in National Security/Emergency Preparedness leadership positions are eligible for WPS. The following criteria have been established to identify critical NS/EP leadership functions and determine WPS eligibility.

• Executive Leadership and Policy Makers
• Disaster Response/Military Command Control
• Public Health, Safety, and Law Enforcement Command
• Public Services/Utilities and Public Welfare
• Disaster Recovery

TSP

When considering this service, agencies should contact OTS to obtain pricing.  To order the service, agency Telecommunication Coordinators  must request TSP numbers via Telecommunications Service Priority System/TSP Request for Service Users Form 315.  OTS will request a TSP number from the National Communications Systems Office for each inventory item requiring the service.

Agency TCs should indicate if the TSP request is for provisioning or restoration.

• Provisioning priority: For priority provisioning, users are required to fill out numbers 2, 7h, 7i, 8, 10 and all of 11 on the form 315. Users should send the completed form 315 to OTS for submission to the National Communications Systems Office. Once the TSP number is assigned by NCS, the number will be provided to the appropriate vendor by OTS. TSP numbers will be maintained on OTS's telecommunications inventory. 
• Restoration priority: For priority restoration of services, users are required to fill out numbers 2, 6d, 7h, 7i, 8, 10, and all of 11 on the form 315. Users should send the completed form 315 to OTS for submission to the NCS office. Once the TSP number is assigned by NCS, the number will be provided to the appropriate vendor by OTS. TSP numbers will be maintained on OTS's telecommunications inventory. One-time and monthly recurring charges will be billed through OTS.