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Callsigns🔗

TAK.NZ uses a standardised callsign prefix schema so every track on the Common Operating Picture is immediately identifiable by organisation, and optionally by region or sub-unit.

The callsign and the colour carry different information, and the split is deliberate: the callsign identifies who you are, the colour identifies what you do. The callsign gives an organisation, nationality and region; the colour gives an operational function. Read together they tell you that an Australian fire crew (AUS-FIRE-) is doing the same job as the FENZ crew beside it, and that both appear Red.

Schema🔗

Domestic NZ organisations:

[ORG]-[REGION]-[SUFFIX]

Foreign partner organisations:

[COUNTRY]-[FUNCTION]-[SUFFIX]
Component Required Description
ORG Mandatory Organisation prefix (see table below). All domestic callsigns must begin with this prefix.
REGION Optional Regional identifier derived from ISO 3166-2:NZ (country prefix omitted).
SUFFIX Mandatory Individual or unit identifier. Format is determined by each organisation (full name, initials, radio ID, badge number, etc.).
COUNTRY (foreign) Mandatory ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for foreign partners (e.g. AUS, USA).
FUNCTION (foreign) Mandatory Standardised function abbreviation (see table below).

The hyphen (-) is the only permitted separator between all components — no underscores or spaces.

Organisation prefixes (domestic)🔗

Organisation Prefix
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) FENZ
New Zealand Police NZP
Hato Hone St John / Wellington Free Ambulance AMBU
Air Ambulance & Rescue Helicopter RHT
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) NEMA
CDEM Groups (regional Civil Defence Emergency Management) CDEM
Land Search and Rescue NZ (LandSAR) LSAR
Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) HNZ
New Zealand Red Cross NZRC
Coastguard New Zealand CGRD
Surf Life Saving New Zealand SLS
New Zealand Customs Service CUST
New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) NZDF
Department of Conservation (DOC) DOC
Road network operators (NZTA and partners) NZTA
Vendor / technical support VND

Organisations not yet listed — including Maritime New Zealand, lifeline utility operators and welfare providers other than Red Cross — are assigned a prefix when they are onboarded.

Function codes (foreign partners)🔗

Function Code Covers
Fire FIRE Fire brigades, wildfire crews
Police / Law Enforcement POL Police, border force, federal agents
Military MIL Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard
Medical / Ambulance MED Paramedics, field hospitals, medical teams
Land Search and Rescue LSAR Land, alpine and cave search and rescue teams
Marine Search and Rescue MSAR Coastguard, lifeguard and marine rescue crews
Maritime / Aviation Authority MAR Maritime safety authorities, rescue coordination centres, harbour and airport authorities
Civil Defence / Emergency Management CDEM FEMA equivalents, state emergency services, EOC staff
Lifeline Utilities UTIL Electricity, water, gas, fuel, telecommunications crews
Logistics / Support LOG Supply, transport, engineering support

Each code maps to exactly one colour, so a foreign track is coloured by the same rule as a domestic one.

Two codes have changed

Land SAR is now LSAR, not SAR, so it pairs symmetrically with MSAR for marine SAR — a bare SAR read as "all search and rescue" when it only ever meant the land category. And MAR has been split: marine rescue is MSAR (Teal) while maritime authority remains MAR (Magenta), because a rescue asset and the centre coordinating it shouldn't look identical on the map. Foreign partners tagged with the older SAR or single MAR code should be re-tagged.

LSAR deliberately means land search and rescue in both namespaces — it is the domestic prefix for LandSAR and the foreign function code. Position tells them apart: LSAR-CAN-TeamA is the New Zealand organisation, AUS-LSAR-Team1 is an Australian land SAR team.

Regional identifiers (optional, domestic)🔗

Regions use the official ISO 3166-2:NZ subdivision codes, with the NZ- country prefix omitted since it's redundant in a NZ-only context. A few examples: AUK (Auckland), WGN (Wellington), CAN (Canterbury), STL (Southland). Regional identifiers are optional and at each organisation's discretion — not every organisation uses them.

Examples🔗

Callsign Interpretation
FENZ-STL-JSmith FENZ, Southland, individual J. Smith
FENZ-AUK-01 FENZ, Auckland, unit 01
NZP-WGN-Badge4521 NZ Police, Wellington, badge number 4521
LSAR-CAN-TeamA LandSAR, Canterbury, Team A
VND-AcmeCorp-Tech1 Vendor, Acme Corp, technician 1
AUS-FIRE-NSWRFS-Unit1 Australian, fire function, NSW Rural Fire Service, Unit 1
AUS-MIL-Jones Australian military, Jones
GBR-MED-Medic1 British medical personnel, Medic 1
SLS-BOP-Tower3 Surf Life Saving, Bay of Plenty, Tower 3
AUS-MSAR-Vessel2 Australian marine search and rescue, Vessel 2

Rules and guidance🔗

  • Mandatory prefix, hyphen-separated. Every callsign must start with the organisation prefix (domestic) or country code (foreign), using - as the only separator. Tracks without a recognised prefix should be flagged as misconfigured.
  • Suffix format is organisation-specific — a surname (JSmith), initials (JS), a radio/badge ID (Badge4521), or a unit number (01, Alpha1).
  • Keep it short. TAK truncates long callsigns on smaller screens — aim for 20 characters or fewer.
  • Special cases use a sub-identifier after the primary prefix — for example, personnel embedded with or operating under another organisation's command (NZDF-INT-[suffix]), or a vendor supporting a specific agency (VND-FENZ-[suffix]). Personnel holding roles in more than one organisation use the prefix for whichever role they're performing during the current incident.
  • Some prefixes cover a whole sector, not one employer. NZTA covers all road network operators, not just Waka Kotahi staff — contracted maintenance and alliance partners use it too. Lifeline utility operators (electricity, water, gas, fuel, telecommunications) follow the same pattern and identify their employer in the suffix rather than taking a prefix each.
  • Everyone is coloured by function, not organisation — foreign partners included. An AUS-FIRE- track appears Red alongside FENZ; AUS-MIL- appears Brown alongside NZDF. The callsign identifies nationality, the colour identifies function, and foreign partners operate under the supporting NZ agency's incident command — they're never assigned the White (vendor) colour. See Colour Coding for the full function mapping.
  • Country codes follow ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 (AUS, USA, GBR, FJI, etc.).