Hawaii Deploys a Network-centric Alerting Offering that Makes it Possible to Achieve Mass Alerting, Interoperate with Other Agencies and Monitor Threats from Multiple Sources 
Burlingame, CA (May 15, 2007) --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- AtHoc, Inc. today announced the Hawaii State Civil Defense (HISCD) has licensed AtHoc IWSAlerts™ software to build a comprehensive, network-centric emergency notification system (ENS) to support emergency response state wide.
The system has already been installed in the HISCD headquarters at the Birkhimer Emergency Operating Center in Diamond Head Crater, Oahu, and is intended to provide support to HISCD personnel, to the emergency preparedness community and to the Hawaii special needs community on a pilot basis.
Hawaii State Civil Defense, Hawaii’s emergency management agency, is responsible for preventing, protecting and assisting its islands and citizens during emergencies and disasters. The AtHoc system allows HISCD to use its existing network to reach personnel within HISCD and partner organizations through multiple redundant channels of communications - including SMS text-messaging to mobile phones, desktop alerts over IP-networks, telephony, TTY/TDD devices and pagers.
The system can be triggered either by HISCD emergency managers or automatically by monitoring events communicated from external agencies (i.e. National Weather Service). IWSAlerts also enable HISCD to trigger alerts to the public over the broadcast Emergency Alert System (EAS) using the same Web-enabled integrated system, which improves response time and bolsters public safety.
"We began talking to Hawaii State Civil Defense shortly after we began working with U.S. military installations in the region. It was quickly apparent that all of the defense-related agencies and programs on the island would benefit from interoperability, and AtHoc was already working with the Pacific Command, Pacific Air Forces and the U.S. Navy," commented Guy Miasnik, president and CEO of AtHoc. "Hawaii is now promoting alerting interoperability state wide, which is a critical step in creating a finely-tuned emergency response capability. It’s exciting to be working with HISCD and numerous other organizations across the state to help build this very important emergency notification infrastructure."
HISCD decided to create a far-reaching alerting capability that contacts various communities, including:
- HISCD personnel
- Hawaii’s emergency preparedness community - first responders, federal, state and local government agencies, etc.
- Special needs citizens
- Emergency managers for universities, health facilities, hotels, corporations, etc.
- General public via the media and EAS – emergency alerts broadcast to TV, radio and newspapers
