Event Control & External Coordination. Tactical
Tactical
Event Control & External Coordination
Holding and managing the live control picture and the outside of the event on the day.
This service includes what we used to call Event Control and external operations and community liaison, on the day.
Why this service exists
Large events produce more calls than one person can hold. Somebody has to keep one picture of the whole site and decide what matters first. Outside the gates, queues, walking routes, transport and neighbours need the same grip on the day.
What OTAS does
- Chairs your event's own Event Control for the whole public day.
- Chairs your event's own tactical coordination meeting.
- Sets control priorities and keeps radio discipline.
- Coordinates the response to incidents through the right team and escalates decisions to you.
- Runs external coordination on the day, at transport points, walking routes, queues and cordons.
- Keeps a timed Event Control log, with every decision recorded in writing.
What you receive
- A chair in the room. An Event Control Manager in the chair for the whole public day, with day and late shift cover handed over in writing.
- A timed Event Control log. Every entry timed and kept in real time, with decisions recorded in writing.
- Coordination meeting records. Times, attendees, priorities set and actions agreed at each coordination meeting.
- An external coordination record. One log for everything outside the gates, including resident and business calls and how each was followed up.
- Written handovers. Shift handovers in writing, and the log handed to you for the debrief.
How it is delivered
This is on site work for the live days, with a short remote preparation before. OTAS reads your plans, confirms call signs and the escalation chain, and then runs the room from before the public arrive until the agreed hand back. Days, shifts and staffing numbers are set in the written scope for each job.
Who OTAS provides
Event Control Manager. Chairs your event's own Event Control and tactical coordination meeting. Holds the live control picture, sets priorities, keeps the log and escalates decisions to you. Shifts are set so no one person holds the whole day, with handovers in writing.
External Coordination Manager. Provided when the outside of the event is in scope. Runs the outside of the event on the day and links Event Control with the police, the council and transport operators. Directs OTAS's own external team members. OTAS's external team members observe, record and report. They are not licensed security staff. Your contractors' own supervisors manage their own staff.
Event Resilience Lead. Bought add-on
This is a bought add-on. It is not part of this service unless you add it to your scope.
One senior lead, named and briefed before the event, who goes to incidents that involve several teams. The lead coordinates those teams at the scene through their own leads, within limits you have signed off. Every activation is declared to Event Control. When the police, fire or ambulance service arrive, the lead hands over to them and supports them. It is a specialist capability attached to this service, not a stream, a level or a core service.
What we need from you
- Your event management plan, emergency plan and site plan, as early as you have them.
- Your radio plan, channels and call signs, or the information for us to confirm them.
- The name of your decision maker on each day, and how to reach them.
- Your contractor list, with each contractor's supervisor and contact.
- Your traffic, transport and resident information, when the outside of the event is in scope.
- Any limits you want written into the escalation chain before the event.
How it connects
- Control Support, Crowd Monitoring & External Delivery (Operational). Loggists, radio operators, crowd monitoring posts and external team members report into the room.
- Control & Coordination Planning (Strategic). The Event Control specification and the external coordination plan this service runs to.
- Event Safety & Risk. Safety calls are logged and escalated through the same room.
- Event Delivery. Production and site calls come through the same log.
- Your contractors. Security, medical, traffic and stewarding stay with your own contractors, coordinated to the same plan.
Authority and escalation
You stay the decision maker for your event. OTAS chairs your event's own control and coordination meetings when commissioned, and escalates decisions to your named decision maker. Anything on a public road passes at once to your traffic management contractor and the police. When the police, fire or ambulance service take command, Event Control supports them.
Records and handover
OTAS keeps the Event Control log, the coordination meeting records and the external coordination record during the job. All of them are yours. They are handed to you at the agreed hand back, for your event file, your debrief, your insurers and the licensing authority.
Where OTAS responsibility ends
You keep your legal duty for the event and the risk that remains. OTAS holds only what is set out in the written scope. Your contractors manage their own staff, named specialists keep their own sign off, and the police, fire and ambulance services keep their own command.
- OTAS does not chair a multi-agency tactical group.
- OTAS does not take a police, fire or ambulance command role.
- OTAS does not supply or direct stewards or licensed security staff.
- OTAS does not run traffic management on public roads.
- OTAS does not operate CCTV, which needs licensed operators.
- OTAS does not call the show or the sport.
- OTAS is not the medical provider.
- OTAS does not design, erect or sign off temporary structures.
- OTAS does not offer technical drawings. Site layouts are marked-up plans on your own base site plan.
- OTAS does not apply to a Safety Advisory Group on your behalf. You stay the applicant.
- OTAS currently takes work in Great Britain and Northern Ireland only.
Cross-cutting disciplines
Information & Communications. Emergency & Contingency. Crowd Safety. Review & Improvement.
From our own work
On a multi-day international sporting event (2024 to 2026), OTAS kept the Event Control log with safety decisions in writing and ran all-channel radio checks. It moved the log to digital in 2026.
Related services
- Control Support, Crowd Monitoring & External Delivery. Operational. See this service
- Control & Coordination Planning. Strategic. See this service
- Event Safety Management. Tactical. See this service
- Event Delivery Management. Tactical. See this service
Related resources, handbook and Insights
Handbook: OTAS Live Handbook 1.1, Running the Live Event Day. View the handbook.
Insights:
How to commission
You can buy this service on its own, as part of the whole Event Control & External Coordination stream, or inside Integrated Event Management and Control. Every job is scoped and priced in writing from the OTAS rate card.
Next step
Tell us about your event
Send us the dates, the site and the gap in your team. We will reply with a written scope that sets out the posts, the days, the outputs, the price and what OTAS does not do.