PIER Work Group

Attendees

• Michael Walter (Houston OEM)
• Lach Mullen (Fort Bend County OEM)
• Melanie Manville (Fort Bend County HHS)
• Gil Martinez (Montgomery County OEM)
• Brian Murray (Harris County OHS&EM)

Workgroup Changes

The PIER Work group discussed a proposal to change the name, scope and mission of the workgroup. The revised proposal will be sent out to this group next week, and will be presented to the Regional Collaboration Committee on February 8, 2012.

We also launched several Working groups, as outlined below:

At the next meeting, the PIER Workgroup will have opportunities to sign-up to participate in the groups listed above.

Enhancement Progress

We had more enhancement money than was discussed at the previous meeting, so we were able to request PIER tackle all the requests PIER had quoted. Lach Mullen is currently working with Kevin Boxx to get the enhancements completed and paid by April 15, 2012.

There is also an additional possibility of developing SharePoint integration, allowing smaller jurisdictions to participate in the regional Emergency Public Information System even if they are ineligible for UASI funds or cannot afford PIER maintenance.

PIER Training System Development

Lach Mullen brought up the UASI 2010 project, and the current status of the training plan. PIER has send along the training topics they have in the system already, and the PIER Training subgroup will begin grouping and rearranging them into training modules for the region. After the modules have been designed, PIER will develop curriculum, videos and training materials for us. The deliverable date for this project is April 15, so we can begin training throughout the region before June. The Regional PIER Training Subgroup was formed for this purpose.

A PIER Regional Training Calendar will be developed when this group has finalized training contents and the program is completed.

Meeting Schedule

The PIER Workgroup Meeting will occur on the last Thursday of every month, at 1000 in the HEC Media Room. This is the same day as the GIS and Technology Workgroup meetings, so those of us from outside Houston can consolidate meetings to one day.

Adjourn

The meeting adjourned at the scheduled time. Our next meeting date is Thursday, February 23 at 1000.

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PIER Regional Training Standards

The PIER System is a Content, Contacts, and Inquiry management system utilized in the Houston Urban Area. User turnover, new site adoption, site repurposing, and product enhancements and feature changes require multi-faceted training sessions at various levels.

Users in PIER are assigned “Permission Groups,” which roughly mirror the types of training required to be operating at that level.

Additionally, overhead training is required to educate non-users on the usage of PIER.

Kickoff Training

Kickoff trainings are high-level reviews of PIER’s functions and regional usage. Kickoff training is usually given at the start of a PIER implementation, but is sometimes given on an ongoing basis as organizations experience turnover.

Core elements

• What PIER the company is
• What PIER the product is
• PIER basic functions
• Regional approach to information sharing - EPIS
• PIER policies
• PIER regional participation opportunities

Prerequisites

• None

Frequency

• Quarterly or as needed on-site

Basic User Training

Basic User Training is the most basic level of hands-on training offered.

Core Elements

• Regional approach to information sharing - EPIS
• PIER policies
• PIER regional participation opportunities
• Basic Document Management
• Basic Contact Management
• Basic Inquiry Management
• Collaboration

Prerequisites

• None

Frequency

• Monthly or as needed rotating around the region

Intermediate User Training

Intermediate User training is the highest level of training most users receive. Enhanced user training includes nearly all administrative functions on a single site, and allows Administrators to assign the “Power User” permission group to anyone trained to this level.

Core Elements

• Advanced Document Management
• Advanced Contact Management
• Advanced Inquiry Management
• Collaboration
• Web site
• Gateways

Prerequisites

• Basic User Training

Frequency

• Monthly or as needed rotating around the region

Administrator Training

Administrator training is the highest level of training offered, and will include every function in a PIER site, including cross-site functions and user management. Each organization should have at least one user trained to the Administer level, but if they do not they can utilize the Regional Administrator for assistance with their site.

Core Elements

• PIER Family structure
• EPIP Policies and procedures
• User management
• Optimization
• Maintenance
• Monitoring
• Security

Prerequisites

• Intermediate User Training

Frequency

• Quarterly or as needed

Certification Training

Certification training is an optional, strategy-based training class offered by PIER Systems. It is a comprehensive three-day course taking a user from basic knowledge through a high-level understanding of PIER policies and best practices.  

Frequency

• As offered by PIER Systems, Inc. or as demand dictates.

Exercises

Table-top

Offered annually, 6 months following state or regional functional or full-scale exercise.

Functional

Offered annually to coincide with state or regional functional or full-scale exercise.

Details

What: PIER Administrator Training

When: January 18, 2012, 2:00 P.M. - 3:30 P.M.

Where: Fort Bend County EOC (307 Fort Street, Richmond, TX 77469)

Who: New and existing administrators of regional PIER centers

How: In-person, no virtual component

Prerequisites: PIER Basic User Training, PIER Intermediate User Training

Required for: Administrator Permission Level, Regional Administrator Training

Cost: Free

Description

This class is the second-highest level of training for the PIER system in the region, and allows trained users to be assigned the "Administrator" permission group on regional PIER sites. It is a short class and only covers a few functions in PIER:

• Adding, editing and managing Users
• Managing user permission groups
• ClearSilver and Site Layout Editing
• Bridges (Facebook, Twitter, WebEOC)
• Launching Sites
• Multilingual settings
• Site statistics
• Secured Document Access

This class also covers regional plans and policies like the Ready-state policy, the User Permission Groups policy, and the Emergency Public Information Plan.

Registration

Registration is handled either by signing up for the class through the Regional PIER Training Registration form, or by contacting the Regional Emergency Public Information System Administrator via email at lachlan.mullen@co.fort-bend.tx.us

Class size is limited to 12. Seating priority is given to a) New administrators, b) UASI PIER Users, c) Regional Public Sector PIER Users, but is open to all PIER Users.