EPlan Frequently Asked Questions:

Are additional site licenses required?
No. EPlan is licensed to your local jurisdiction. All agencies, all services, even volunteer organizations. Internet, Intranet, stand alone, however you choose to use EPlan. After all it is your plan. Make as many copies as you like.
 

What do I have to pay for updates?
Nothing, for three years from the date of purchase. After three years, simple time and materials costs which will be quoted on request. Updates will be available via FTP on our website to customers with a valid user name and password. EPlan will notify customers about updates. Customers can then decide if they desire the update. You or your Information Technology department can easily do updates yourself with our included instructions. This keeps your cost down.
 

We have a plan in digital format. We have procedures too. Can EPlan help put it all together so it works as one tool?
Yes. If you have plans and procedures you want incorporated, tell us what you need and let us detail a program for you. Most city, county, state or corporate emergency plans consist of numerous books, plans, procedures, attachments, legal references, resources and more. EPlan is unique in that it joins and links all of these documents so they appear as one and work together as one. We can even convert "paper" documents to a digital format that you can change as your needs change. You can simply email us your documents, mail or ship them to us and we will do the rest.
 

Isn't EPlan just some canned planning program where I just fill in the blanks?
No. EPlan is not a "canned" emergency plan where blanks are just filled in. EPlan is truly a one of a kind product designed and developed for your jurisdiction (or business) based on your current plan. It incorporates a well established format that makes your job easier and involves considerable time to convert documents, index documents and make everything work together as "one book" and function like a website.
 

What other software does EPlan use?
EPlan uses a variety of software to develop your plan including (but not limited to) Expression Web, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Javascript and SQL Server. We can teach you what you need to know about how to edit and change your plan pages. We even provide you an online help manual, contained in your software, that gives you tips and tricks to reduce the time it takes to learn these products.

System requirements: Intel Pentium III or higher, 256Mb RAM, Win98/2000/ME/NT/XP/Vista, 100Mb free space, internet access, Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, MS Office Professional 2000 or higher with FrontPage or Expression Web , MSDE SP4, SQL Server 2000 or 2005 or SQL Server Express. EPlan has also been extensively tested and deployed on Windows Server 2000, 2003 and Virtual Server 2005 R2 using IIS 5 and 6.
 

Absolutely. Using almost any html (hyper text markup language) editor, we will teach you how to make changes to your plan. In fact it is easier than making changes in Word or Word Perfect. We encourage you to in fact to make edits and changes yourself. Plans change and often. Links change. This is your plan and you need to be able to make changes when you need or want to. We even offer free online training and free training at any of a number of conferences EPlan attends.

Of course. While there is no single "button" to print and collate your entire plan, there are many ways to do it. There is no reason to keep separate files. Click here and take a look at our ideas and recommendations.

Low price, free updates for three years, a jurisdiction license? What is the catch?
No catch. Generally, we limit "customization". We rely on you for information, in the form of a copy of your plan. We rely on you for information that must be put into your plan. We do not offer 24/7 technical support either. You won't need it. We do not have a sales force. You are our sales force. We are so confident in EPlan that we offer you a money back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied, simply return the original disk to us within 90 days of delivery, delete all EPlan files from your computer and we will refund your money. You do not even have to give us a reason! Ask us to quote on your EOP (Emergency Operations Plan) update, then compare our features, our service and our price.
 

If you already have a printed (hard copy) EOP, we charge $30 per printed page, single side to review and convert it for you. This price includes plan development and review, document formatting and conversions, graphics, menus, checklists, a search engine and the database. Everything. If, like most plans, you have about 200 printed pages the cost would be $6,000. EPlan is not "moduled" like some other software. You get it all for the same low price. If you have no plan, we can help you develop one that will meet your needs and meet state and federal requirements. This requires extensive work and extensive planning and can be costly because of the time involved in travel, research, meetings and gathering documents.

On site visits (travel) to conduct research, gather documents, interview department heads, hold public meetings and briefings with public officials and do installations are costly and must be quoted for each jurisdiction and each proposal. This is consulting work. EPlan can do all this for you, but it is more expensive and is not included in the basic price. We can construct mitigation plans for your jurisdiction or offer you a referral to one of our associates, and will be happy to provide you a quote, but development of mitigation plans, meeting the requirements of 44CFR 201.6, are not included. Nor are nuclear plans, hurricane plans or other similarly extensive plans. We would be happy to quote on the inclusion of these plans or the development of them, based upon your needs and desires.

If your demands are for considerable customization of the plan, checklists or database, the cost will be more and will require a negotiated contract between your organization and EPlan. If you would like your specific plan converted to digital format from paper documents, we can do that too, but it is extensive work and is not covered in the basic price. To convert paper documents to digital format, we generally charge $75 per hour. EPlan can put you in touch with well established companies for other EOC products, such as mapping, radios, networks, large screen displays, telephones, mobile command posts and more. Whatever your needs for an Emergency Operations Center, we can help. Call or write if you have specific needs. Estimates and RFIs (requests for information) and RFPs (requests for proposal) cost you nothing. We back up everything we do with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

 

What is not included with EPlan? 
We do not include hardware such as PCs, laptops or servers. We do not include Microsoft Office Professional or MS FrontPage or Expression Web. Most agencies already have it. We do not include SQL Server, but we will include SQL Server Express at no cost if you need it. We will not do onsite installations without an additional cost to cover travel expenses. We do provide complete installation instructions for your Information Technology department. We will not do complete restructuring of EPlan (changing format, all new database design, all new checklist design, etc.) without additional costs. All of this is outlined in our proposals to you and the scope of work is detailed based upon your needs and requirements.

EPlan can provide you all of the above if you choose. We can offer hardware solutions, supporting software, shipping, setup and installation. We will work with you and your Information Technology department to ensure you receive the very best. We can also work with third party hosting services (EDT Hosting is our preferred hosting associate) to ensure your software is installed and operating properly on remote servers, with remote setup and reasonable cost. Please allow us to quote based upon your needs and scope of work.