Your PSAP’s Guide to Operationalizing RapidSOS Portal

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RapidSOS Portal is previously known as RapidLite. For more details, please read this article.

RapidSOS Portal is a 100% free, easy-to-deploy, and zero-commitment solution, making it many agencies’ first tool to access life-saving emergency data from the RapidSOS Clearinghouse. Whether you are planning to use RapidSOS Portal or recently signed up, this article serves as a comprehensive guide to operationalizing RapidSOS Portal in your PSAP.

If you don’t have access to RapidSOS Portal yet, watch this news clip to see how LAPD is using the tool to locate callers. We encourage every PSAP to claim their agency’s free RapidSOS Portal account to get immediate access to rich emergency data, including fast, accurate 911 caller location from iPhones and Androids.

Step 1: Sign up for RapidSOS Portal

The first step to use RapidSOS Portal is to have an admin at your agency sign up for an account at www.RapidSOSPortal.com. The process to sign up should take about 5 minutes and involves designating a geofence for the region where you accept 911 calls.

Quick tip: Due to strict security requirements, after you sign up there is a 2-4 weeks approval process to ensure the request was made by an authorized PSAP.

Step 2: Training

While you are waiting for your account to be approved, train your telecommunicators on the tool by using RapidSOS’ comprehensive training portal. The training portal includes general location and RapidSOS Clearinghouse information, as well as dedicated RapidSOS Portal info. Once you sign up for RapidSOS Portal, you will receive an email from our team with your PSAP’s unique training ID to get access to the portal.

Step 3: Place a Test Call

Once your agency’s RapidSOS Portal account has been approved, you are ready to begin testing. Simply place a 911 call from your PSAP’s designated geofence from an enabled device. An enabled device is any Android phone version 4.0+ or an iPhone on iOS 12.

Call 9-1-1 from your enabled device’s native dialer from within your PSAP’s jurisdiction
Query the phone number of the device in RapidSOS Portal
Verify the location

Quick tip: Toggle on “see historic locations” to see locations update in real-time.

Step 4: Add Your Telecommunicators as Users

Admins have access to configuration settings. Admins should add telecommunicators as users. Users can query for caller information, but cannot modify any admin information. To give your telecommunicators access, follow these instructions to add agents for your PSAP.

When logged in to RapidSOS Portal, navigate to the “Admin” tab in the top righthand corner and select “Add User”:

Add the telecommunicator under the “Agent” role (note: they will receive an email to set their password and the password link expires after 24 hours):

Step 5: Explore Options for an Integration

While RapidSOS Portal is often the first step to receive access to the RapidSOS Clearinghouse, over 1,000 PSAPs across the country currently access supplemental data from the RapidSOS Clearinghouse through their existing call-taking, CAD, or mapping software. RapidSOS has developed integrations with every major public safety software provider, so each PSAP can implement emergency data from the Clearinghouse using the best method for their agency.

Quick tip: Data from the Clearinghouse is entirely supplemental and does not impact ALI information.

Integrating data from the RapidSOS Clearinghouse with PSAP software allows telecommunicators to receive supplemental data directly in their existing dashboards and workflows. In addition to this streamlined process during vital, high-stress moments, the full integration with the Clearinghouse offers several unique benefits and features.

Integrated workflow: With the full integration, information from the Clearinghouse appears as additional data in existing software windows – providing life-saving emergency data in the tools telecommunicators are already familiar with. This also allows telecommunicators to compare the ALI location with the location from the RapidSOS Clearinghouse as both are linked together in the same dashboard.
Automatic querying: Location and additional data automatically populates in PSAP software windows when a call comes in from an enabled device. With RapidSOS Portal, telecommunicators need to manually query caller location for every call.
Internal documentation: Administrators will have a record of instances where additional data was available from RapidSOS along with the ALI location. This allows documentation for quality assurance after the fact.
Caller history: Telecommunicators can view locations received from previous 9-1-1 calls from the same device through the software integration. With RapidSOS Portal, telecommunicators do not see a history of 911 calls initiated from the same caller.