Release date: 17 April 2026

Affected product: Orah Open API

Type: Additive — no breaking changes, no migration required

Summary

Schools can now trigger an Emergency Roll in Orah from an external system — for example, a fire panel, a building management system, or a mass-notification platform like Singlewire. When the external system fires an emergency event, Orah can start the roll automatically, dispatch all configured notifications, and begin student accountability without waiting for a staff member to open the app.

Why this matters

Until now, an Emergency Roll could only be started by a staff user inside the Orah app. Schools that operate building-safety systems had to rely on staff being present and reactive enough to start the roll manually — every second of delay during a fire, lockdown, or evacuation event matters.

This release closes that gap. The same emergency event that fires a school's alarm or notification platform can now also start the Orah Emergency Roll, in seconds, with no human in the loop.

Primary use cases

1. Mass-notification platforms (Singlewire, AlertMedia, RAVE) — when the safety platform fires an emergency, it auto-triggers the Orah roll on the way through

2. Fire panel / building automation - alarm activation signals Orah to begin roll-call automatically

3. Scheduled drill automation - schools can run drills on a schedule from any system that can make an authenticated web request

1. Multi-system orchestration - IT teams can wire emergency response across several platforms with a single trigger

What schools and partners gain

The triggered roll behaves identically to one started in-app — same notifications (SMS, email, push, banner), same staff workflow, same reporting. The only difference is the entry point.

How it works (at a glance)

1. Once, at setup: the school's IT or integration partner registers the external system with Orah using an API key issued by an Orah Admin.

2. At every emergency: the external system makes one authenticated call to Orah to start the roll, identifying which staff member it's acting on behalf of, the type of roll (e.g. Fire Drill, Lockdown), and optionally a location and collaborators.

3. Orah does the rest: the roll is created and made Active, all notifications configured on the Roll Type fire automatically, and the roll appears in the Orah app for staff to complete.

The exact request and response shape is documented in the Orah Open API docs (link above).

Setup — what schools need to do

A school that wants to use this feature needs:

1. Open API enabled in Orah Admin Console (Admin Console → Open API). If you can't see this setting, contact Orah to enable it.

2. At least one Emergency-type Roll Type configured and active (most schools already have these for fire drills, lockdowns, etc.).

3. **A designated staff member with ***start*** permission** on that Roll Type — this is the user the integration acts on behalf of. Permission is set in Roll Type configuration.

4. The external system itself (Singlewire, BMS, fire panel, custom script) configured to make the trigger call. This is typically done by the school's IT team or an integration partner.
   Existing Open API security practices apply — Bearer-token authentication, optional IP whitelist per key, recommended key rotation at least every 6 months.

Backwards compatibility

• Additive only. No existing endpoint was modified — existing Open API consumers are unaffected.

• Available immediately in all three Orah regions (Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe/Africa/Middle East).