Participate in a mission with Responder

This workflow assumes that you have installed ArcGIS Mission Responder but have not yet used it to engage in a mission. You'll learn about the various tools that are part of Responder and how and why to use them.

When you open the app and sign in, you are taken to the mission list. Tap your mission to enter it.

Prepare for the mission

You are now viewing the mission details. You have entered the mission but are not yet an active member. The status icon in the upper right corner indicates your status with an orange dot.

Prepare for the mission by inspecting the mission details and resources.

The following tabs are available in the mission overview:

• Maps
• Info
• Members
• Materials

1. On the Maps tab, you can see the live mission map and any map areas that are available for offline use. If there are any, download them prior to entering the mission in case you lose connection to the live mission map.
2. On the Info tab, you can view the mission summary and description to familiarize yourself with the mission.
3. Tap Members to view the list of mission members and see how they are organized into teams. You can see who is active and inactive and gain a better understanding of who you will be able to communicate with directly during the mission.
4. Tap Materials to see whether any resources are available to you. These can be images, documents, or links to ArcGIS Survey123 forms or ArcGIS QuickCapture projects.

When you are finished exploring the overview and have downloaded any maps or materials, proceed to the active mission by returning to the Maps tab and tapping the live mission map.

Familiarize yourself with the map

You are now in active status and are visible on the map to other mission members. When you initially enter the mission map, your current location is centered on your device screen.

1. Orient yourself to the map. Inspect the mission area, note any relevant graphics or labels, and inspect any sketches that are visible to you.
2. Check your map options, as there may be features there you are unaware of that may be useful to you during the mission. Review any bookmarks and determine whether the map contains layers or pop-ups.
3. Review the basemap options, as the default basemap may not display the map information that is most relevant to you, based on your role in the mission.
4. Use the Member Extent tool to see the locations of all the active mission members. This gives you better situational awareness of the spread of the active mission members.

Use Responder actions

There are several tools in ArcGIS Mission Responder that allow you to provide information to others. These include the Tasks, Reports, and Chat tools. These tools differ from other tools, such as walkie-talkies, in that they create lasting data that is stored and can be accessed later for analysis. Also, this data is geolocated, which provides a better understanding of the situation.

A Responder user may be given a task that requires them to inspect a mission-relevant event and submit a report to document it.

1. Open your task from the My Tasks panel and change its status to In Progress. This lets the mission analyst who assigned the task know that you have begun the work necessary to complete it. Attach a note to the task stating that you will also send a sketch to mark the event on the mission map.
2. Return to the mission map to identify the location where the event occurred.

   You may want to provide more context to the location by referencing other features around it. This can mean, among other things, providing cardinal directions, distances, or a combination of the two.

3. Choose a feature on the map near where you will place your sketch. The feature should be easily recognizable and relevant to the mission.
4. Open the Measure tool and find the distance between the task location and the notable map feature. Ensure that your measurements use the most informative unit. For example, avoid using large units for short distances. Make note of the distance.
5. Open your chat tools and start a new chat. This will go to the analyst who assigned the task, so select them from the list of recipients.
6. Type a message in the text field when the chat thread opens. Describe the event and include a note of the distance to your previously chosen map feature.
7. When your message is complete, tap the sketch tools.
8. Tap Add a Point, find the location of the event you are documenting, and tap to drop the point on the map.
9. Tap the add photo button to add a photo of the event. This ensures that other mission members have the greatest understanding possible of what you are documenting.
10. Tap Send.

    You have completed part of your task and should let your mission analyst know.

11. Open the Task Details screen for the assigned task.
12. Create a brief note saying that you sent a message, including text chat, sketch, and photo, to your analyst to document the event.
13. Because this task requires a report, you cannot move the task into Completed status until the report has been submitted. Tap the Submit Report button at the bottom of the Task Details screen.
14. The report gives you the opportunity to include more details about the incident. Include as much information as is necessary for the report, including up to three images.
15. Click Submit.

Now that your report has been submitted, you can complete your assigned task. In this workflow, you used most of the tools included in ArcGIS Mission Responder. However, you have not used all the functionality of those tools. Now that you're more familiar with ArcGIS Mission Responder, you can explore them. For details about the app and its tools, see Introduction to ArcGIS Mission Responder.