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Collaborate using the Actions panel

In this topic

  1. Chats
  2. Tasks
  3. Reports

Mission members can collaborate with each other through chats, tasks, and reports. Chats are the main communication tool used in ArcGIS Mission and can contain text chats, sketches, and attachments. Tasks are focused responsibilities in the mission assigned by mission analysts or enabled mission leads in ArcGIS Mission Responder that may or may not pertain to a location. Reports are authored by mission owners and are completed by mission members, via mission analysts and mission responders to organize and communicate information of a particular nature that has been observed, heard, completed, or investigated.

Chats

Chats are messages sent between mission members, either from ArcGIS Mission Manager or ArcGIS Mission Responder. Chats are organized into threads and can include text, sketches, and attachments. Chats can be sent to any mission member, group of members, or teams. You can only access the Chat tool in ArcGIS Mission Manager from the mission analyst experience.

You can specify chat recipients in the participants panels. Chats sent to connected users are sent in real time. You can send chats to disconnected users, but these are stored and sent when the user becomes active again.

All chats between mission members appear in the Chats feed. Chats in which you are a participant, including chats that you create, are listed in the Chats feed.

Send text chats

Text chats are messages sent between mission members and are the most common tool used for communication during a mission. To send a text chat, complete the following steps:

  1. Click one or more recipients under Participants.
  2. Click Chat .
  3. Enter your message.
  4. Click Send .

    The chat appears in the Messages feed.

Send a sketch

A sketch is a geolocated graphic drawn on the mission map and included as part of a chat. The Sketch tool is part of the Chat tool and allows users to send points, line, or polygons of various types, as well as select the color of the graphic being drawn. To send a sketch, complete the following steps:

  1. Click one or more recipients under Participants.
  2. Click Chat.
  3. Select the mark-up tool.
    • Point Stamp
    • Line Line
    • Polygon Polygon
    • Rectangle Rectangle
    • Circle Circle
  4. Draw your graphic on the map. For lines and polygons, double-click to end the drawing process.

    To redraw the sketch, click Delete sketch Delete to clear it and start over.

    A color picker dialog appears.

  5. Select a color for your sketch graphic and click Close.
  6. Click Send.

    The chat appears in the Messages feed.

Send an attachment

Attachments are image files sent in chats. They are often sent in association with text chats or sketches but can also be sent independently. Multiple attachments can be sent in a single message. To send an attachment, complete the following steps:

  1. Click one or more recipients under Participants.
  2. Click Chat.
  3. Click Add images .
  4. Select an image file from your device.
  5. Click Send.

    The chat appears in the Messages feed.

Mark a chat as important

Important chats are distinguished from regular chats with a red flag next to the message text. To mark a message as important, complete the following steps:

  1. Click one or more recipients under Participants.
  2. Click Chat.
  3. Click Mark as important.
  4. Complete authoring the message as desired.
  5. Click Send.

    The chat appears in the Messages feed.

Edit chat importance

While a chat can be sent with importance, most important messages have an expiration where they are no longer important. Users can now edit their chat importance. To edit chat importance, complete the following steps:

  1. Select a chat sent with an importance flag.
  2. At the bottom right of the important message, notice the flag with a slash through it.
  3. Select the Remove flag

    The message is no longer marked as important.

  4. To reverse the message back to important, repeat the previous steps.

Reply to a chat conversation

Once a chat is created, it appears in the Chats feed. If you are a chat participant, you can reply to the chat conversation by completing the following steps:

  1. Locate the chat in the Chats feed.
  2. Click to expand the thread.
  3. Click the in-line Reply button.
  4. Create a text chat, sketch, or attachment message (or any combination of the three).
  5. Click Send.

Send a broadcast

Broadcast messages are a one-way communication tool that allows for quick distribution of important information. Broadcast messages are sent from Mission Manager owners or leads and will be received on all Responder and Manager devices. These broadcast messages are a means of mass communication and are like push notifications. Broadcast messages can also be sent with a sketch or an attachment to provide greater context.

To create a broadcast, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Broadcasts feed where you are mission owner or lead.

    Broadcasts dialog appears.

  2. Click Create.

    The New Broadcast panel opens under the map.

  3. Type the message you want to send.

    There is a character limit of 250.

  4. If desired, use one of the sketch tools and mark up the map.
    • Point Stamp
    • Line Line
    • Polygon Polygon
    • Rectangle Rectangle
    • Circle Circle
  5. Optionally, click Add attachment.

    An Open dialog appears to select a file from your device.

  6. Click Send .
    7. Note:
    A broadcast will appear at the top of the mission map and users need to manually close the notifications. A maximum of two broadcast notifications will be shown within Manager at once, with the most recent at the top.

View previous broadcast messages

You can view previously sent broadcast messages in Mission Manager. The default is displayed to the most recent message at the top. You can also filter by My Broadcasts or All Broadcasts.

  1. Open the Broadcasts feed where you are mission owner or lead.

    The feed opens with the broadcast messages sent in your mission. A message appears if no broadcasts were sent.

  2. Optionally, filter the broadcast messages using the drop-down menu to see My Broadcasts, All Broadcasts, or Cached Broadcasts.

Tasks

Tasks are focused, responsibilities in the mission assigned by Mission Analyst users and completed by other members in the mission. A task only requires a task name, all other fields are optional. The additional fields that exist are for assigning location, task type, assignees, a status, report (if required), a due date and time, a description, and a priority.

Create a task

To create a task, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Task List view in the Actions panel.
  2. Enter a Name.
  3. Optionally, add a Location Type:.
    1. Select Point or Address.

      Location parameter is enabled based on the type selected.

    2. With Point, click Stamp and choose a location on the map.
    3. Alternatively, with Address, enter an address in
    4. Click Stamp and click on the map, or type anAddress.
  4. Select an existing task Type from the drop-down menu. Optionally, create a new task type by clicking Define new type Add. Enter Define New Type and click Save to continue.
  5. Optionally, click Assignees to assign one or more team members to the task. By default no team members are assigned.

    As team members are assigned their name is shown in the list.

  6. Click Status to change the task status. By default the task is Unassigned, unless there are one more assignees. Then the default is Assigned .
    • Unassigned
    • Assigned
    • In Progress
    • Completed
    • Declined
    • Paused
    • Cancelled
  7. Click Report to choose a report to add to the task. Default is None, meaning a report is not required.

    If a report is assigned to a task, the report must be submitted by the assignee before the task can be completed.

  8. Click Due Date to assign a date and time for the task to be completed.

    If unselected, the current day and 11.59PM will be the due date of the task.

  9. Enter a Description to add instructions for the task. These are the steps for the task to be completed.
  10. Optionally, select a priority.
    • None
    • Low
    • Medium
    • High
    • Critical
  11. Click Create.

    The new task is added to the list of tasks in the current mission.

The tasks icon by default is a purple square for all stages of a tasks progress, but mission owners can adjust the icons of tasks by editing the icons in an edit map session or by editing the map in the web map viewer to reflect the current stage of the task. To learn more about the status of tasks, see Task status.

Reports

While available mission report templates are displayed in the Reports tab of mission details, they are submitted and viewed in the mission analyst view. Previously submitted reports can be accessed through the Reports feed.

Note:

Sensor reports that are part of the mission are not visible and cannot be submitted by mission analysts, as they are only submitted by ArcGIS Mission Responder users.

Submit a report

To submit a report, do the following:

  1. Click Report in the Actions panel.

    The panel expands with different report forms and displays their respective icons and descriptions.

  2. Select a report type from the list.

    Alternatively, click Back to return to the report list.

    The report form will open. The report fields will vary depending on how the report was created.

  3. Select Location Type:
    1. With Point, click Stamp location tool and then click a location on the map to set the report location.
    2. With Address enter an address or place name in Location.

    After entering the point or address, the report icon appears on the map.

  4. Enter required and additional fields for the specific report type. For example, a Tactical Summary Report will include Subject, Notes, and Add images .
  5. Click Submit.

    The report is submitted, and appears on the mission map and in the Reports feed

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In this topic
  1. Chats
  2. Tasks
  3. Reports