Critical Communications Technology to Automatically Distribute Information Should Operations Face Disruption
NASHVILLE, TN --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 17 , 2005 - DCC (Dialogic Communication Corporation) today announced that Avaya (NYSE: AV), a global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, has selected the company as its emergency notification provider.
DCC’s web-based notification software, Communicator! NXT, will help Avaya maintain business continuity during critical and routine situations alike by quickly sharing information between their worldwide offices. The technology automatically distributes critical messages to management, employees and other emergency teams and gathers all-important feedback, vital to quick and appropriate response.
The software rapidly distributes voice or text messages using all types of communications devices (e.g. phone, pager, Blackberry). It also captures responses and provides detailed reports for a full audit trail.
About Avaya
Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than 1 million businesses worldwide, including more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet protocol (IP) telephony systems and communications software applications and services.
Avaya Selects DCC as Emergency Notification Provider
National Weather Service Forecast Office in Fort Worth Deploys Notification System for Emergency Management Agencies
MessageOne’s AlertFind Selected for Critical Communications to First Responders
Austin, TX --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 16, 2005 – The National Weather Service’s (NWS) Fort Worth/Dallas forecast office is ready for action with a new emergency notification system that allows the office to quickly and easily notify first responders prior to the issuance of public weather products. Austin-based MessageOne, Inc. announced its AlertFind system is now in operation at the NWS office. The NWS forecast office provides forecasts and warnings for 46 counties with an estimated seven million residents in this weather hotbed. The NWS is the official voice of the United States for issuing warnings during life-threatening weather situations.
Evaluation of Notification Systems
The Fort Worth/Dallas forecast office began its search for an emergency notification system late last year when the staff realized its emergency management partners had a wide variety of methods for receiving notifications from the NWS. The emergency managers benefit from an early “heads-up” prior to the official public warning. The mission-critical information provides them time to deploy their storm spotter groups, activate their emergency operations centers, and prepare to handle incoming calls from the public.
Gary Woodall, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the forecast office, began the effort to revamp the office’s pre-notification system. “We needed a solution that would be easy to learn and use, and one that would not require extensive resources to manage,” explained Woodall. “Likewise, our emergency management and storm spotter partners wanted a system that would be compatible with their existing technology, be it alphanumeric pagers, conventional e-mail, PDAs, or voice telephone lines.”
Pre-Alert System Adopted for Regular Use
After several months of an evaluation phase with key emergency team members in the system, the NWS office has moved into regular usage with first responders in North Texas who have the equipment to receive the text messages. Several members of the NWS staff issue the notification messages when necessary and they can do so from any computer or phone in the operations area. Within minutes, a pre-notification message can be sent to all or any subset of the network simultaneously.
The NWS office and their emergency management partners are doing everything they can to prepare in advance for the late summer/early fall weather season that in this part of the country is well known for tornados, floods, and severe weather systems.