A command center (often called a war room) is any place that is used to provide centralized command for some purpose. While frequently considered to be a

military facility A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

, these can be used in many other cases by governments or businesses. The term "war room" is also often used in politics to refer to teams of communications people who monitor and listen to the media and the public, respond to inquiries, and synthesize opinions to determine the best course of action. If all functions of a command center are located in a single room this is often referred to as a

control room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...

. However in business management teams, the term "war room" is still frequently used, especially when the team is focusing on the necessary strategy and tactics to accomplish some goal the business finds important. The war room in many cases is different than a command center because one may be formed to deal with a particular crisis such as sudden unfavorable media, and the war room is convened in order to brainstorm ways to deal with it. A large corporation can have several war rooms to deal with different goals or crises. A command center enables an organization to function as designed, to perform day-to-day operations regardless of what is happening around it, in a manner in which no one realizes it is there but everyone knows who is in charge when there is trouble. Conceptually, a command center is a source of leadership and guidance to ensure that service and order is maintained, rather than an information center or

help desk A help desk is a department or person that provides assistance and information usually for electronic or computer problems. In the mid-1990s, research by Iain Middleton of Robert Gordon University studied the value of an organization's help desks ...

. Its tasks are achieved by monitoring the environment and reacting to events, from the relatively harmless to a major crisis, using predefined procedures.

Types of command centers

There are many types of command centers. They include: ;

Data center A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...

management: Oversees the central management and operating control for the computer systems that are essential most businesses, usually housed in data centers and large computer rooms. ; Business application management: Ensures applications that are critical to customers and businesses are always available and working as designed. ; Civil management: Oversees the central management and control of civil operational functions. Staff members in those centers monitor the metropolitan environment to ensure the safety of people and the proper operation of critical government services, adjusting services as required and ensuring proper constant movement. ; Emergency (crisis) management: Directs people, resources, and information, and controls events to avert a crisis/emergency and minimize/avoid impacts should an incident occur.

Types of command and control rooms and their responsibilities

* Command Center (CC or ICC) **

, computer system,

incident response An incident is an event that could lead to loss of, or disruption to, an organization's operations, services or functions. Incident management (IcM) is a term describing the activities of an organization to identify, analyze, and correct hazards ...

* Network Operation Centers (NOC) ** Network equipment and activity * Tactical Operation Centers (TOC) ** Military operations ** Police and intelligence * Security Operation Centers (SOC) ** Security agencies ** Government agencies ** Traffic management **

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

* Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) ** Emergency services * Combined Operation Centers (COS) **

Air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

** Oil and gas ** Control rooms ** Broadcast * Audio Visual (AV) ** Simulation and training ** Medical * Social Media Command Center ** Monitoring, posting and responding on social media sites

Military and government

A command center is a central place for carrying out orders and for supervising tasks, also known as a

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

, or HQ. Common to every command center are three general activities: inputs, processes, and outputs. The inbound aspect is

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

(usually

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

and other field reports). Inbound elements are "sitreps" (situation reports of what is happening) and "progreps" (progress reports relative to a goal that has been set) from the field back to the command element. The process aspect involves a

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...

element that makes decisions about what should be done about the input data. In the US military, the command consists of a field – (Major to Colonel) or flag – (General) grade

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

with one or more advisers. The outbound communications then delivers command decisions (i.e., operating orders) to the field elements. Command centers should not be confused with the high-level military

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

of a

Command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...

– as with any formation, Commands may be controlled from a command center, however not all formations controlled from a command centre are Commands.

Examples

Canada

During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, the Government of Canada undertook the construction of "Emergency Government Headquarters", to be used in the event of

nuclear warfare Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear ...

or other large-scale disaster. Canada was generally allied with the United States for the duration of the war, was a founding member of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, allowed American cruise missiles to be tested in the far north, and flew sovereignty missions in the Arctic. For these reasons, the country was often seen as being a potential target of the Soviets at the height of nuclear tensions in the 1960s. Extensive post-attack plans were drawn up for use in emergencies, and fallout shelters were built all across the country for use as command centres for governments of all levels, the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

, and rescue personnel, such as fire services. Different levels of command centres included: * CEGF, ''Central Emergency Government Facility'', located in

Carp, Ontario Carp is a compact rural community in West Carleton-March Ward in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the northwestern portion of the municipality on the Carp River. It is about from downtown Ottawa. Prior to amalgamation in 2001, ...

, near the

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. Designed for use by senior federal politicians and civil servants. * REGHQ, ''Regional Emergency Government Headquarters'', of which there were seven, spread out across the country. * MEGHQ, ''Municipal Emergency Government Headquarters'' * ZEGHQ, ''Zone Emergency Government Headquarters'', built within the basements of existing buildings, generally designed to hold around 70 staff. * RU, ''Relocation Unit'', or CRU, ''Central Relocation Unit''. Often bunkers built as redundant backups to REGHQs and MEGHQs were given the RU designation.

Serbia

Joint Operations Command (JOC) is the organizational unit of the

Serbian Armed Forces The Serbian Armed Forces ( sr, Војска Србије, Vojska Srbije) is the military of Serbia. The President of Serbia acts as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while administration and defence policy is carried out by the Government o ...

directly subordinated to the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The main duty of the Command is to conduct operational command over the Armed Forces. The Operations Command has a flexible formation, which is expanded by the representatives of other organizational units of the General Staff, and, if there is a need, operational level commands. In peacetime, the commander of the Joint Operations Command is at the same time Deputy of Serbian Armed Forces General Staff.

United Kingdom

Constructed in 1938, the

Cabinet War Rooms The Churchill War Rooms is a museum in London and one of the five branches of the Imperial War Museum. The museum comprises the ''Cabinet War Rooms'', a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the ...

were used extensively by Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

United States

A Command and Control Center is a specialized type of command center operated by a government or municipal agency 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Various branches of the

U.S. Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

such as the U.S Coast Guard and the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

have command and control centers. They are also common in many large correctional facilities. A Command and Control Center operates as the agency's dispatch center, surveillance monitoring center, coordination office, and alarm monitoring center all in one. Command and control centers are not staffed by high-level officials but rather by highly skilled technical staff. When a serious incident occurs the staff will notify the agency's higher level officials.

In service businesses

A command center enables the real-time visibility and management of an entire service operation. Similar to an air traffic control center, a command center allows organizations to view the status of global service calls, service technicians, and service parts on a single screen. In addition, customer commitments or

service level agreement A service-level agreement (SLA) is a commitment between a service provider and a customer. Particular aspects of the service – quality, availability, responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user. T ...

s (SLAs) that have been made can also be programmed into the command center and monitored to ensure all are met and customers are satisfied. A command center is well suited for industries where coordinating field service (people, equipment, parts, and tools) is critical. Some examples: *

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

's security Command Center *Dell's Enterprise Command Center *NASA's Mission Control Houston Command Center for Space Shuttle and ISS War rooms can also be used for defining strategies, or driving business intelligence efforts.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Command Center Handbook
Corporate governance Military command and control installations Military communications Military locations Nuclear command and control Organizational structure