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Incident Side Menu

The slide-out toolbar of command tools — open PAR, Resources, Timers, Audio Hub, and switch the command board between its views.

When you open the full Command View for an incident, a menu of command tools sits along the left edge of the workspace. From here you reach the popups that run an incident — Personnel Accountability, Resources, Timers, and more — and switch the command board between its different views. The same Info, Comms, Maps, and Additional tabs remain available across the top.

Incident side menu

Overview​

The left menu holds two kinds of buttons: tools that open a popup over the board, and board views that change what the board itself shows.

Tool buttons​

Tool buttonOpensUse it to
PARPersonnel Accountability (PAR)Confirm or flag every unit and member, with a timer since each unit's last check.
ResourcesResourcesReview available and assigned resources.
IntelliScreenIntelliScreen DeviceDiscover and connect nearby display devices.
CertificationsCertificationsCheck unit and personnel certifications.
TimersCommand TimersRun countdown and operational timers with alert intervals.
Audio HubAudio HubPick a radio position or command channel, then connect, receive, and transmit.
WeatherWeather ForecastCheck the forecast for the incident area.
Contact DetailsContact DetailsLook up contact information tied to the incident.
NotesCommand NotesRecord notes against a unit or the command structure.

Board view buttons​

Board view buttonShows
ICSThe Incident Command System organizational board.
CommandThe Command and Tasks board — the default view.
TimelineThe Incident Timeline analysis view.
IWIThe intelligence and information view.
IAPThe Incident Action Plan view.
Sub-CommandThe sub-command management view, for an incident broken into subordinate commands.
note

The standalone incident tabs — Info, Comms, Maps, and Additional — do not show this menu. It appears only inside Command View, where it sits to the left of the command board. See Command View.

Getting Here​

  1. Open an incident from the Incidents tab.
  2. Open the Command View for the incident.
  3. The command tools menu runs down the left side of the screen.
  4. If the menu is hidden, tap the Menu button in the header to slide it out. Tap it again to slide it away.
tip

On a phone the menu slides over the board. Sliding it away gives the board the full screen width, which makes dragging units between columns much easier.

Opening a Command Tool​

  1. Tap a tool button — for example PAR, Resources, Timers, or Audio Hub.
  2. The matching popup opens over the command board.
  3. Work in the popup.
  4. Tap Close (or the popup's own back control) to return to the board. Your scroll position and column selection on the board are preserved.

Opening a tool

BehaviorDetail
One at a timeTools open as popups over the board, so only one is open at once.
Board stays putThe board is not reloaded when a popup opens or closes — you come back to exactly where you were.
Saving on closeSome tools save when you close them rather than as you go. Timers is the clearest example: closing the popup writes every timer back to the server.
Live updatesPopups that show shared data, such as PAR, refresh when new command data arrives while they are open.

Switching the Board View​

  1. Tap a board-view button — ICS, Command, Timeline, IWI, IAP, or Sub-Command.
  2. The command board redraws to that view.
  3. Switch back at any time by tapping a different view button. Command is the default and the one you return to when a tab popup closes.
ViewDefault state
CommandThe view the workspace opens on.
All othersShown only while selected; the workspace returns to Command when you close an embedded tab panel.
tip

Use PAR at every accountability check, Timers to track operational periods and benchmarks, and Audio Hub to stay on the right channels — these are the tools you will reach for most during an active incident.

Empty and Unavailable States​

StateWhat you see
A tool your agency has not configuredThe popup opens with empty lists. For example, Audio Hub shows no tones or messages if your agency has not set any up.
A tool with no data yetPAR with no units, Timers with no timers, Certifications with nothing recorded — all open to an empty list you can add to (where you have permission).
View-only accessTools open and are readable, but the controls that change things are unavailable.
No connectionTools that only read cached data still open. Tools that have to save — such as Timers or PAR — keep your changes on the device and show a message that the internet is not available.
caution

Which tools you see, and whether you can change anything in them, depends on your agency's configuration and your permissions for this incident. If a button you expect is missing, contact your administrator.

How This Connects​

The side menu is the control panel for the shared incident record. Nothing it opens is private to your device.

  • Where the data comes from. Every tool reads the incident record loaded when you opened the incident — the same record behind Info, Comms, Maps, and Additional. The board views are different arrangements of that same structure, not separate boards.
  • What updates it. Changes made from any tool go to the server and out to everyone else working the incident. Changes other people make arrive live; open popups such as PAR redraw when they do.
  • How the tools feed each other. The units on the board supply the units and personnel in PAR and Certifications. Personnel come from the incident's roster under Additional → Personal. Map objects drawn on the Maps Tab are what you attach to a task in Add a Command Item and manage in Task Maps. The Incident Timeline draws on the same base map and layers as the Maps tab.
  • Audio, in two places. Audio Hub is the command-side audio panel; the incident's channel cards live on the Communications Tab. Both use the same microphone and speaker, so only one should be transmitting at a time.
  • Timers are shared. Timers you create in Command Timers belong to the incident, not to your phone — everyone with the incident open sees the same set.
  • Offline. Tools open and show what was already loaded. Changes are kept on the device; tools that save immediately will tell you the internet is not available.
  • On reconnect. Live updates resume. Reopen the tool you were working in and confirm your changes are there, since anything the app could not send may need to be re-entered.

Troubleshooting​

If this happensWhat to do
You cannot find the tools menuIt only exists inside Command View. From the four incident tabs, open Command View first.
The menu is covering the boardTap the Menu button in the header to slide it away.
A tool button is missingYour agency has not enabled that tool, or your account lacks permission for it. Ask an administrator.
A popup opens but is emptyYour agency has not configured that tool's content yet, or nothing has been recorded on the incident.
Controls inside a popup do nothingYou have view-only access to this incident.
Your changes in a tool did not stickSome tools save on close — tap Close rather than backing out. If you were offline, make the change again while connected.
The board looks wrong after switching viewsTap Command to return to the default board view.
The board jumped back to the top after closing a popupReopen the popup and close it with its Close control rather than the system back gesture.
Two people's changes are fightingBoth are editing the same shared record; the most recent save wins. Agree who is driving the board during an active incident.

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