Practice GETS calls before normal telephone service is congested

GETS can support priority calling for enrolled subscribers when ordinary calls are difficult to complete, but users still need their access information, a current dialing workflow, and a working connection from the devices available during the incident.

Source fact:

A CISA Priority Telecommunications Services presentation hosted by HHS 405(d) says events including cyberattacks, extreme weather, human error, and high call volume can degrade, destroy, or overload network infrastructure. It explains that GETS enhances voice-call completion when commercial networks are overloaded or impaired and provides end-to-end priority over landline commercial networks.

The presentation instructs a user to dial the universal GETS access number, enter the user’s PIN after the tone, and then enter the destination number when prompted. Its best-practices slide recommends practicing with GETS and WPS, making test calls frequently, and incorporating those calls into training exercises. It also directs users to report call problems and lists the Priority Telecommunications Service Center’s 24-hour assistance number. The presentation reports a generally greater-than-95-percent GETS completion rate; it does not promise that every call will complete or that destroyed infrastructure will remain available.

Boundary

Use current CISA resources and the CISA Priority Telecommunications Service Center for enrollment and dialing details. This article does not enroll a person or organization or replace CISA instructions. The presentation distinguishes GETS priority over wireline commercial networks from WPS priority over wireless networks. The following continuity steps are DSE recommendations; they do not assert that a specific call path will work.

Applicability questions

• Which incident roles need to place essential calls during congestion, and are those people eligible and currently enrolled?
• Can they retrieve their GETS access information if corporate identity, email, or mobile-data service is unavailable?
• Which originating phones, PBXs, calling plans, and locations are likely during activation?
• Are destination numbers maintained offline and expressed in a dialable format?
• Who reports lost credentials, role changes, departures, and failed test calls?

DSE recommendation:

Use CISA’s current process to determine eligibility and enroll the minimum operational roles that require priority calling. Assign program administration, user training, roster review, and credential-loss response. Protect PINs from shared documents and tickets while ensuring each user has an approved, resilient way to retrieve their own information during an outage.

Conduct practice calls only as permitted by current program guidance. Include the actual devices and calling paths users expect at a primary site, alternate site, home, and field location. Have the user follow the complete sequence, reach a designated test recipient, and record only nonsecret results. Pair the test with scenarios in which corporate contact lists, single sign-on, mobile data, or normal PBX dialing are unavailable. Maintain satellite, radio, alternate-carrier, or other communications where the continuity assessment requires them.

Verification and evidence

Keep an access-controlled roster of active enrolled roles, training dates, approved practice-call records, failure tickets, CISA support contacts, and quarterly or other defined review evidence. Do not store PINs in the evidence package. A useful exercise verifies both the user’s procedure and the destination’s readiness to recognize the call and exchange the necessary information. Remove or update access promptly after role and employment changes through the official process.

Official references

• CISA Priority Telecommunications Services presentation, hosted by HHS 405(d)