Emergency Notification

Pacific University Launches Emergency Notification System powered by e2Campus

2007-11-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Pacific University Launches Innovative "Give-away" Program to Encourage Opt-in Participation

Forest Grove, Oregon, --[Emergency Notification News]-- November 9, 2007 - Pacific University announced a new, state-of-the-art alert notification system powered by e2Campus called "Boxer Alerts" to send urgent news to students cell phone and email. Boxer Alerts will send notifications to students and faculty registered mobile phones, Blackberries, wireless PDAs, pagers, smart or satellite phones, email addresses, and RSS feeds. Messages can also "pop up" to anyone using Google, Yahoo, or AOL as their home page.

Once intended recipients sign up for Boxer Alerts, Pacific University will be able to text student and faculty cell phones with timely information about inclement weather conditions, campus closings and imminent emergencies. Depending on personal cell phone plans, there may be a nominal fee from carriers to receive text messages, but there is no charge from Pacific University to use the service. The service is available to all current students, faculty and staff of Pacific University. To learn more and to sign up, go to www.pacificu.edu/alerts and click on the button labeled "Sign Up". All students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to register.

Students, Faculty, and Staff -- Sign up to Receive Boxer Alerts and be Entered to Win a "FlyTech" Dragonfly.
The FlyTech" Dragonfly is the world's first radio-controlled flying insect. What better way to get out an urgent notification than with a dragonfly! To be eligible for the FlyTech" Dragonfly drawing you must register for Boxer Alerts before 5:00 pm, December 10th, 2007. For more information check out the Boxer Alerts web site at www.pacificu.edu/alerts

Source: Pacific University

MIR3 Debuts World’s First Apple iPhone Emergency Notification Solution

2007-11-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

iPhone Empowered as Mobile Emergency Command Device;
IT Alerts, Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, CRM and Other Important Enterprise Notifications can be Initiated and Managed with the Touch of a Screen

SAN DIEGO, CA -- [Emergency Notification News] -- November 6, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, today announced the availability of the first emergency notification and enterprise notification command interface for the Apple iPhone™ mobile communications platform. These full-featured Web-based management applications from MIR3 run under Apple’s mobile Safari™ browser to enable corporate executives and IT administrators to initiate emergency notifications and remotely manage enterprise notification systems and response teams using Apple iPhone device.

“Apple’s new generation mobile communicator is growing in popularity among corporate users because of their larger screen sizes, easier-to-use touch screen keyboards and anywhere network access,” said Amir Moussavian, CEO of MIR3. “With this new application, MIR3 has empowered the Apple iPhone as a remote emergency command device. MIR3 has a history of technology innovation and is committed to delivering support for all mobile devices, all mobile platforms and all modalities. We believe that as iPhone is adopted more widely and accepted as an enterprise communications device, corporate iPhone users will represent an important segment within the mobile-enabled enterprise notification and emergency response industry.”

MIR3’s iPhone interface also functions as an automated mobile command dashboard that allows executives to instantly notify and initiate live voice conferences among the appropriate response-team members, and access MIR3’s real-time reporting features to track notifications and responses on their iPhone.

“Disasters and emergencies are almost always unexpected, and there’s a high probability that many executives and first responders will not have access to their desktops when crucial decisions must be made and quick action steps taken,” Moussavian added. “Mobile devices may be the only functional option for decision makers during an emergency, and we believe that the iPhone, with its game-changing communication capabilities, will be a preferred crisis management and emergency communications tool for many of them.”

MIR3’s Web-based iPhone notification applications are 100% compliant with Apple’s current guidelines for iPhone software development using the mobile Safari browser.

Source: Vendor Press Release
Picture: Eddy Ruble - Tsunami Grief in Aceh, Indonesia

Auburn University implements Connect-ED® Emergency Notification System for Students, Employees

2007-10-30T00:01:00.002-07:00

AUBURN, AL --[Emergency Notification News] -- October 30, 2007 - In the wake of recent emergency situations around the nation ranging from severe weather to campus violence, Auburn University has launched AU Alert, a personalized voice and text messaging system that will provide critical information should a need arise. Emergency messages will be sent via the Connect-ED® emergency notification system provided by the NTI Group of Sherman Oaks, California.

AU’s top safety official is urging students and employees to sign up for emergency notifications by logging on to www.auburn.edu/aualert. In a major emergency affecting the university community, people who have registered will be provided information and instructions through cell phones, home phones, e-mail or other text-receiving devices.

“Notifying all students, faculty and staff immediately is crucial in emergency situations, such as a severe storm or campus closure,” said Christine Eick, executive director of AU’s Office of Risk Management and Safety.

She added, “It is essential for students and faculty to enter all of their contact information into the AU Alert database. The more means we have to contact individuals, the better our odds are of spreading timely information and updates and keeping everyone safe.”

University officials will use the system only in emergency situations, Eick said. All people with an AU e-mail address will receive emergency alerts to their campus e-mail address, but only those who register will benefit from the text and voice messaging notification. AU Alert enables AU officials to schedule, send and track personalized voice messages to as many as four phone numbers and two e-mail addresses per person.

“Today we are forced to prepare for situations that we never could have anticipated happening and recognize the important role that immediate communication plays in keeping students safe,” Eick said. “AU Alert will allow us to keep students, faculty and staff informed no matter where they are.”

In addition to AU Alert, Auburn University employs a number of notification systems in emergency situations, including a new service that allows Auburn Public Safety to send emergency alerts directly to severe weather radios on campus.

Source: Auburn Wire Eagle

Pepperdine University Relies on the 3n InstaCom Campus Alert system to protect students, faculty and staff during the Malibu Canyon fire

2007-10-30T00:01:00.001-07:00

GLENDALE, CA --[Emergency Notification News]-- October 30, 2007 – In response to the Malibu Canyon fire that began a devastating rampage through the small ocean-side community on Sunday, October 21, Pepperdine University actively used its newly deployed mass notification system provided by 3n (National Notification Network) to help relocate faculty and staff to designated shelter-in-place locations on the Malibu campus and to coordinate efforts to prevent the loss of life and property. The Southern California wildfires have burned half a million acres, including thousands of acres in and around Malibu, destroying businesses and residences directly bordering the Pepperdine campus.

According to students on campus, Pepperdine sent out five notifications during the first day of the fires. Two of the messages included instructions to students and faculty to relocate from dorms and classrooms and proceed to safe areas on campus. Faculty, staff and students not on campus were urged, at the recommendation of Los Angeles County Fire officials, not to return to campus until the roads leading to the Malibu campus were opened and deemed safe for travel. Pepperdine officials sent out two more messages providing status updates of the fires, urging the population to remain in designated safe areas and asking them to stay calm. A final message was sent out to officially close classes the next day.

Pepperdine initially decided to acquire the 3n InstaCom™ Campus Alert system earlier this year to further strengthen University emergency preparedness. The system was rolled out with the 2007 Fall Semester, and initial testing was completed in time to address the emergency that the Malibu fires created. The 3n InstaCom Campus Alert system enables Pepperdine to communicate with students, staff and faculty in minutes via a number of contact methods—including native SMS text messaging, almost any voice-enabled device such as cell phones and landlines, instant messaging, pagers, faxes and more—greatly increasing the likelihood that messages will be delivered and received in a timely manner.

Student response to the use of the 3n system was positive, with many on and off campus commenting that its use gave them confidence that the situation was being handled with the proper attention it deserved. Matthew Fiutem, a senior at Pepperdine stated, “The notifications that Pepperdine sent kept us informed about what was happening both on and around the campus and told us what we should do to stay safe. They cleared up a lot of confusion and uncertainty in a very stressful situation.” According to Andy Conales, Pepperdine’s Student Government President, “The student body is pleased with how Pepperdine has handled the Malibu Canyon fires, including how it used the new 3n notification system. Pepperdine contacted everyone quickly, relayed all the important information we needed and kept everyone informed as to what to do and where to go. In the end, Pepperdine kept everyone safe during a very dangerous, large-scale natural disaster.”

Source: Vendor Press Release

Photograph: Dr. Stephen Davis, Distinguished Professor of Biology at Pepperdine University and renowned expert on fires and chaparral ecology.

Rochester Institute of Technology selects RecoveryPlanner.com and 3n for Integrated Emergency Planning & Response System

2007-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Glendale, CA. --[Emergency Notification News]-- October 30, 2007 – 3n has announced today that Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has officially selected the combination of 3n’s InstaCom 5.0 mass notification solution and Recovery Planner’s RPX business continuity software to expand RIT’s continuity planning and emergency communications capabilities.

RIT had a vision of an emergency planning and response system that could address all imaginable scenarios for their geographically diverse campus. “The more comprehensive and effective the emergency plan and the more accurate the data is that respondents rely on for immediate action, the more lives might be saved,” said Jonathan Maurer, Director of Business Operations at RIT. After an extensive review and system evaluation, RIT’s management found that the combination of RecoveryPlanner RPX and 3n InstaCom 5.0 was the complete solution to make their vision a reality.

“We needed a system that would provide us with the flexibility and integration that were a ‘must have’ requirement in our environment”, said Jonathan Maurer. “Recovery Planner’s RPX delivered on those needs through its flexible Enterprise Modeling Engine and BCP 2.0 architecture with real time integration facilities. By linking our student information system and Oracle HR straight into RPX we were able to reflect campus wide changes in real-time. From the time a student updates their information in our portal, it’s literally seconds before the changes are reflected in our emergency response plans. This means that our worst case scenario has gone from thousands of bad contacts to just a few. Given what’s at stake, this is monumental.”

RIT discovered that the best continuity and emergency response software programs typically integrated with “best of breed” dedicated two-way emergency notification systems. RIT decided that their ideal solution would be the combination of RecoveryPlanner RPX and 3n’s InstaCom 5.0. RPX and InstaCom 5.0 leverage the most technologically sophisticated platforms available today, with SaaS (Software-as-a- Service) architectures designed to provide the highest possible service levels and delivery speeds for urgent communication at an extremely low cost-per-message.

About RecoveryPlanner.com – Enterprise Continuity Management^SM
Since 1999 a singular vision of - “True Continuity” - has propelled RecoveryPlanner.com. RecoveryPlanner.com supports institutions of all sizes through their Software as a Service (SaaS) platform for enterprise continuity management. Please visit www.RecoveryPlanner.com, or call 1- 866-925-3950.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Southern California Cities and School Districts Use NTI Group's Mass Notification Services to Keep Residents, Students and Parents Informed

2007-10-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

As LA, Riverside, San Diego Counties and Cities Residents Evacuate, Cities and Schools Are Contacting Residents Regarding School Closures, Active Fire and Smoke Warnings, Evacuations and Volunteer Programs

SHERMAN OAKS, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- October 25, 2007 – As horrific fires in Los Angeles and San Diego are forcing residents to evacuate their homes, officials sent over two million voice messages and 685,000 text messages within the state of California Monday to communicate important messages and alerts according to a press release issued by The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI) today.

City and school officials, using the Connect services provided by The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI), are able to send messages from any internet connection or just a phone line, in case administrators are evacuated, and reach thousands of recipients through home phones, cell phones, text messages and emails. And as families leave their homes, they are able to continue receiving these important messages through their cell phones, if registered, and stay connected to city and school announcements, even from evacuation locations when cell phone service is available.

According to the NTI Group, Inc. press release, one of every two students enrolled in California’s public schools is currently served by the Connect-ED service, and additionally, NTI is seeing heavy usage by school administrators who are currently sending messages regarding school closures and air quality issues, modifications to class and activity schedules, and to communicate with and mobilize staff.

NTI Group also announced:

San Diego Unified School District sent close to 400,000 voice messages in six different languages Monday to update parents on school closures quickly and efficiently with a 95 percent success rate;
Poway Unified School District, facing heavy parent and staff evacuations, sent over 280,000 voice messages;
The University of San Diego used its Connect-ED service to keep students and staff up to date, sending voice and text messages to its students and staff as needed throughout the day;
The city of St. Helena’s fire crews, in Northern California, used the service to call up its Strike Team units to Southern California to aid in fire containment;
The cites of Villa Park and Laguna Woods to send messages to residents regarding unhealthful air quality conditions due to the Santiago fire in Orange County;
Of all mass notifications messages sent Monday regarding the fires in Southern California, Connect-ED and Connect-CTY represented 68 percent of all voice call and 91 percent of all text and email messages delivered;
In total, throughout the country, NTI sent over three million messages and 750,000 text messages on Monday through the Connect services.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Emergency Notification Technology Aids in Evacuation of More Than 500,000 Southern California Residents

2007-10-24T00:01:00.001-07:00

REVERSE 911® and DCC Alert San Diego County Residents of Dangerous Wildfires, Mobilize First Responders

Nashville, TN --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- October 24, 2007 - More than 500,000 families have found their way to safety from Southern California’s ferocious wildfires with the help of emergency notification technology. Two PlantCML subsidiaries -- REVERSE 911® and DCC (Dialogic Communications Corporation), have supported the wildfire evacuation and response effort with fast and accurate information.

During this tragic time, public safety agencies and county and city governments throughout Southern California and San Diego County have successfully utilized the company’s patented emergency notification system, REVERSE 911®, as well as Communicator! NXT and GeoCast® Web, to automatically alert thousands of residents and businesses of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders.

“This is tragic situation, and we are firmly committed to helping communities across Southern California evacuate safely,” said Lorin Bristow, Vice President of PlantCML. ”In critical situations like wildfires, communication can be a lifeline. Our customers tell us emergency notification technology is playing a vital role here. During the coming days and weeks, REVERSE 911® and DCC will do everything possible to continue to assist in the wildfire response and recovery efforts.”

REVERSE 911® and DCC both provide emergency notification technology that automates the calling process, enabling public safety organizations to send voice and text messages by phone, pager, cell and email to thousands of residents in minutes.

In Southern California, residents are currently receiving automated messages containing voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders. Numerous public safety organizations, including law enforcement, fire and emergency management, will continue to use the software to evacuate residents as needed and provide pertinent information during the clean up and recovery efforts.

Aside from communicating with residents, the notification technology of REVERSE 911® and DCC’s is being used to mobilize first responders, EMS professionals and volunteers throughout the region. The software automatically contacts these individuals using all available communications devices, and then intelligently fills positions until the required teams are assembled.

Organizations throughout the U.S. depend daily on emergency notification technology provided by REVERSE 911® and DCC. Whether it’s being used to send a severe weather alert or a missing child report, emergency notification allows the user to quickly and accurately contact a wide audience during a time of need. It also allows them to get the feedback necessary for emergency response and recovery.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Ohio Wesleyan University Selects Connect-ED® for Campus Emergency Notification

2007-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

DELAWARE, OHIO --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS] -- October 24, 2007 -- Ohio Wesleyan University reported today that this week it began implementing an emergency contact system that will allow the campus community to be notified of urgent situations via the telephone, e-mail, and text-message systems of their choice.

"Safety is a priority for college campus nationwide, including Ohio Wesleyan," said David Robbins, provost and interim president, on the Ohio Wesleyan University News & Media Web site. "This new contact system will enhance our efforts to keep students, faculty, and staff informed of critical situations and out of harm’s way."

Called “Connect-ED for Higher Education," the emergency contact system is offered by The NTI Group, Inc. of Sherman Oaks, California.

"This project is on the fast track," Theresa Byrd, OWU’s chief information officer and director of libraries was reported as stating, "We have appointed an implementation committee to keep the process moving forward as quickly and efficiently as possible."

"Once contact information has been input into the Connect-ED system, Ohio Wesleyan will test it, make any necessary adjustments, and then begin using it," Byrd said, "The goal is to have the system in place by the beginning of spring semester."

OWU also reported that Professor Barbara MacLeod, chair of the implementation committee, said, "The campus community needs to make providing contact information a priority to help enhance safety and ensure a timely implementation process. This initiative will strengthen the University and help to protect everyone who learns and works here. I encourage everyone to return information to us as quickly as possible.”

Additionally, the school reported that the data, which remain under the control of Ohio Wesleyan, will not be used by NTI for any purpose other than emergency notification and will be treated in a highly confidential manner. Notifications will include critical weather information, such as tornado warnings or snow-related campus closures.

“Connect-ED will be used to provide urgent information and instructions only,” Byrd was reported as saying. “We want people to know that when they receive a voice or text message via Connect-ED, it is vital for them to access it and respond.”

Source: OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY News & Media Web site

Ryder selects Send Word Now alert and response communication service

2007-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK, NY --[Emergency Notification News] -- October 24, 2007. Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R), a global leader in transportation and supply chain management solutions, has selected the Send Word Now™ Alert service for its 28,000 global employees. Ryder will use Send Word Now to effectively communicate with its employees when severe weather or unforeseen circumstances arise, and to streamline and expedite everyday business decisions to ensure business continuity with its customers.

Commenting on the service, Ryder’s EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer Greg Greene said, “The safety and well-being of our employees is our number one priority at Ryder, so it’s important to us to be able to contact employees and their families when severe weather conditions or crises arise. Send Word Now complements our Emergency Management Plan and helps us better prepare for and respond to emergencies. Send Word Now utilizes multiple communication channels, including e-mail, cell phone, and office voice mail, and has proven to be effective in reaching our employees who are in the field."

Send Word Now CEO Tom Shoemaker added, “We are seeing a trend in which large organizations, like Ryder, are implementing Send Word Now’s alerting and response services across the entire organization to reach every person involved with that organization. Forward thinking companies, like Ryder, have envisioned, and are starting to reap the rewards of, both emergency and every day two-way communication with all employees.”

About Ryder
Ryder provides leading-edge transportation, logistics and supply chain management solutions worldwide. Ryder’s stock (NYSE: R) is a component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Ryder ranks 362nd on the Fortune 500 and 1,458th on the Forbes Global 2000.

Cistera Networks Deploys Advanced Emergency Communications System At Georgia Perimeter College

2007-10-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

IP application services enable instant, multimodal communication during on-campus crises

DALLAS, TX -- [Emergency Notification News]-- Oct. 23, 2007 - Cistera Networks, Inc.® (OTCBB: CNWT), a provider of enterprise application platforms and engines for IP (Internet Protocol) Communications, today announced that Georgia Perimeter College, the third largest institution in the University System of Georgia, has deployed Cistera's Event and Alerting Notification (EAN), and Quality Assurance and Compliance (QAC) solutions to improve public safety communications.

"Cistera's multimodal capability is a lifeline to each building and it's the best way to relay important information quickly to a large population over a wide geography. Our campuses are safer with this technology, "said Chris Burge, IT consultant with Georgia Perimeter College.

Cistera's EAN also can link campus public safety operations with civilian authorities to create a seamless framework for inter-agency communications - including two-way radio interoperability - during a crisis. This helps organize and execute a more thorough response to events in an expedited manner.

Georgia Perimeter College has more than 22,000 students and about 3,000 faculty and staff on campuses throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area. The college looked to Cistera Networks, a Cisco Technology Developer Partner, to improve public safety communication and maximize IP communication capabilities at its four main campuses in Clarkston, Decatur, Dunwoody and Newton, with more than 36 buildings total. The college system's Cisco IP Telephony environment includes nearly 2,000 IP handsets including 300 phones in classrooms.

Cistera's EAN and QAC solutions for Georgia Perimeter include:

Cistera RapidBroadcast™, an enterprise-level application engine that coordinates mass communication to multimodal devices during emergencies utilizing desktop phones.
CallCenterRecord™ provides call recording and playback with high-quality, continuous capabilities for public safety purposes. This provides peace of mind from a liability standpoint by archiving all inbound calls for easy reference. It also allows for each call to be used as a training exercise to identify areas for improvement.
Cistera QuickRecord™ offers call recording and playback on an ad hoc basis. Calls can be recorded at anytime during a conversation and span from the beginning to the end.

The QAC solution provides documentation and archiving capabilities that can record every communication received so that it can be referenced for training and liability purposes. Georgia Perimeter uses CallCenterRecord to chronicle inbound communication at its main public safety dispatch center, and QuickRecord at public safety offices on each campus.

Princeton test results of Connect-ED® Emergency Notification System reflect Increased Participation

2007-10-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

87% of 12,971 recipients report receiving an emergency notification, with 70% of these receiving message in first 5 minutes.

Princeton, New Jersey --[Emergency Notification News]-- October 22, 2007. Princeton conducted a campus-wide test of its emergency notification system on Friday, Oct. 19, and was encouraged that 12,971 contacts with registered personal information in the system, or 87 percent, received a test message via live phone delivery or answering machine. Seventy percent of the calls were successfully received within the first 5 minutes of the test.

The test of PTENS acquired from the vendor NTI Connect-ED, reflected improvements made to the Princeton Telephone and E-mail Notification System since its initial purchase in April 2007. During the PTENS test initiated at 1 p.m., the University sent simultaneous alerts to faculty, staff and students through landline phones, cell phones, e-mail and text messages, as could happen in a real emergency situation.

When the first test of the notification system was conducted in May, almost 2,500 individuals -- many of whom were graduate students -- were not included in the system. The number of individuals without at least one valid phone number in the system now has dropped to just over 1,000.

Also noteworthy was the increase in the number of people who provided text message information. At the time of the May test, 1,011 individuals had supplied SMS text message addresses, while more than 5,000 additional people opted-in to receive text messages as of Oct. 19.

The test reached the vast majority of University members in student and employee databases through 18,634 phone calls, 17,280 e-mails and 6,604 text messages. Live phone delivery of the test message was received by 50 percent of all contacts in the system, while 37 percent of contacts in the system received the message by voice-mail. The notification system can access up to six phone numbers per person, in addition to two e-mail addresses and a separate text messaging address.

Faculty, staff and students were asked to update their phone, e-mail and text messaging information through the appropriate University self-service websites in order to be notified during the PTENS test. 64 percent of undergraduate students had put their cell phone information in the system as of Oct. 19. In August, the number of undergraduates who had put cell phone information in the system stood at 42 percent. The number of faculty and staff who had registered cell phone information in the HR database also increased, from 27 percent in August to 55 percent as of the Oct. 19 test.

Brown University Implements MIR3’s Emergency Notification System

2007-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO -- [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS] -- October 16, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, announced today that Brown University in Providence, R.I., has enhanced campus safety and communications with the implementation of inCampusAlert™, an emergency notification system that supports all types of voice- and text-based communication devices.

Brown University will use MIR3’s Web-based inCampusAlert to deliver two-way advisories and instructions to nearly 20,000 students, faculty, staff and others via cell phones, satellite phones, land lines, wireless PDA, text pager, email and other communication devices.

Walter C. Hunter, vice-president of administration and chief risk officer at Brown University said, “The MIR3 emergency notification platform improves our ability to communicate quickly and effectively with our community in emergency situations.”

“We’ll emphasize the importance of keeping contact information, such as cell phone numbers and email addresses, current,” said Hunter. “We’ll also be testing the system regularly so that our students, staff and faculty know what to expect and can appreciate the speed and power of the system first hand. By periodically testing the system, we’ll also know what contact information needs to be updated.”

Brown University began exploring faster, more reliable communication solutions several months ago. After evaluating the technology of several emergency notification vendors, the contract with MIR 3 was signed during the summer, and the system is already operational.

According to Amir Moussavian, MIR3 president and CEO, “Using inCampusAlert, a school can set up a secure, high-speed notification system in minutes without having to purchase or install software, hardware or extra phone lines. Its flexibility and ease of use allow customers to send messages from almost anywhere, any time and to any type of device. Additionally, inCampusAlert can be used for both urgent and important message delivery to the entire campus or to selected groups, such as specific schools, buildings, dormitories or academic departments.”

Additionally, through its OEM partnership with Edulink Systems, Inc. in Anaheim, Calif., MIR3 has shown strong performance and market leadership in the K-12 arena. Edulink has helped more than 50 school districts dynamically build emergency call lists straight from their student information system and incorporate emergency notification capabilities into their parent communication plans. These districts include some of the largest in the United States, such as Prince William County Schools, San Bernardino USD and Arlington ISD.

Source: Vendor Press Release

3n Launches InstaCom™ 5.0 Mass Notification Solution to Meet Escalating Emergency Communication Needs of Organizations Globally

2007-10-11T00:01:00.001-07:00

New Features Make It Easier Than Ever To Immediately Communicate With Large Groups Of People In an Emergency

GLENDALE, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- October 11, 2007 – 3n (National Notification Network), a mass notification system provider, today announced the immediate availability of InstaCom 5.0 which gives 3n customers additional capabilities to organize and administer emergency communications in a hierarchical fashion according to organizational structure. It also allows customers to establish continuous, two-way, live communication with users, react to changes in a rapid and flexible manner, and become more precise with messaging to ensure that emergencies are handled quickly, appropriately and effectively.

InstaCom 5.0 leverages the most technologically sophisticated platform available with a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) architecture to provide the highest possible delivery speeds for urgent communications at an extremely low cost-per-message.

Enhanced features in InstaCom 5.0 include the following:

Organizational Hierarchy, a unique offering from 3n that enables institutions to grant separate locations, departments or districts the power to manage their own data and execute emergency plans independently or in conjunction with the rest of the organization. 3n customers using Organizational Hierarchy free themselves from the numerous limitations created by less sophisticated notification tools that rely on groups to organize member information. Organizational Hierarchy ensures quick updates of information, easy additions and removal of members and reliable maintenance of the database as a whole.
Premium Call-In, a new enhancement that enables 3n customers to provide their audiences with a single number to retrieve simple or complex, multi-part messages. This feature significantly extends 3n’s InstaCom capabilities to provide a full-featured inbound and outbound notification service.
Express Call, which enables users to set up temporary groups on-the-fly and quickly send notifications without incorporating them into their member databases. Express Call is an ideal solution for organizations with frequently changing contact lists.
Enhanced Polling, which expands 3n’s versatile and robust polling feature to allow organizations to send multiple-choice survey questions with up to nine different responses, as well as providing call transfer capabilities to enhance response options. Notification recipients now have the flexibility to provide additional information back to the message sender, such as dates, phone numbers, time of day and more. Message recipients also have the option to transfer to a number defined by the message sender, creating a powerful set of expanded options for how message senders and recipients communicate on a large scale in real-time.

"The 3n announcement of InstaCom 5.0 is a timely response to a marketplace in dire need of sophisticated mass notification solutions. The enhanced features of InstaCom 5.0, especially 'Organization Hierarchy' and 'Enhanced Polling', address the complexity of today’s business environment and allow message senders and recipients of automated alerts and emergency notifications to interact more efficiently and effectively during emergencies." says Ken Landoline, Program Manager of Customer Centric Strategies at Yankee Group.

“3n’s InstaCom 5.0 solution demonstrates our continued commitment to advance the emergency communication capabilities of organizations locally and globally to provide the most advanced, robust and reliable mass notification system available on the market today,” said Cinta Putra, co-founder and CEO of 3n. “InstaCom 5.0’s extensive capabilities, flexibility and ease of use are the key reasons organizations across the globe trust 3n for their mass notification needs.”

University of Delaware Emergency Notification Test Results Reported

2007-10-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

As reported in delawareonline.com Oct.11, 2007, the campus-notification system SendWordNow, was tested at the University Of Delaware. What follows are details from the article.

Location:
University of Delaware

System:
SendWordNow

Test Date and Time: Oct. 10th, 2007, 10:00 am

Message Sent:
"This is a test of the UD Alert system. This is only a test. There is no real emergency."

Methods/Qty of Notifications:
Email: 27,000
Mobile: SMS: 10,000

Notifications Received*:
Email: Not Reported
Mobile: SMS: 33% Responded

System Cost:

"More than $50,000 anually."

System Capacity:

"...send messages to 60,000 contacts, enough to cover both full- and part-time students and staffers."

Delawareonline.com reported:

"UD sent out e-mail messages to most of the campus community because students and staff receive school-issued accounts -- providing a cell phone number for text messages is voluntary. Test e-mails included instructions for users to provide a number for text messages."

Public Safety Director James Flatley said, "more than 98 percent of the text messages and more than 96 percent of e-mails were sent successfully during the test, judging by the low number of messages that "bounced back" from invalid e-mail accounts or phone numbers."

*No post-test survey was completed.

Source: delawareonline.com

Virginia Tech Reports 13% of Campus Confirms Receiving Emergency Alert

2007-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

After 2 Hours, 13% percent of Recipients Confirm Receipt of Test Message

BLACKSBURG, Va., --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- October 11, 2007 -- Shortly after 11 a.m. yesterday, Virginia Tech initiated its first system-wide test of VT Alerts, an emergency notification system that can send text messages to cell phones, voice messages to non university telephones and cell phones, instant messages on the AOL, MSN, and Yahoo networks, and e-mail messages to non-Virginia Tech e-mail accounts.

As of yesterday, 18,266 students, faculty and staff signed up for the subscription service, which represents approximately 60 percent of the university community.

According to analysis provided by, 3n (National Notification Network), the California-based vendor who contracted with Virginia Tech to establish VT Alerts, the first attempt to deliver the test message to all subscribers was sent in 18 minutes. Second and third attempts to deliver the message (to those who requested multiple deliveries) were completed in 31 minutes. After the two-hour test concluded, approximately 13 percent of the recipients confirmed receipt of the message.

At 1 p.m. Wednesdsay, the university distributed a campus wide e-mail informing the community that the test was complete. Community members were asked to complete a survey regarding what they experienced during the test. As of 4 p.m. yesterday, 711 people reported through the survey that they did not receive the test message.

Of the 18,266 who signed up for VT Alerts, approximately 87 percent are students, 8 percent are faculty and 11 percent are staff (Note: totals exceed 100 percent because individuals may have more than one affiliation.)

Of the subscribers, approximately 43 percent opted to receive messages using one method, 30 percent selected two methods, and 26 percent signed up for the maximum of three delivery methods.

Text message is the most widely selection option of delivery; selected by 77 percent of all subscribers. A voice message to a mobile telephone is next at 34 percent, followed by an instant message (31 percent), a message to a non Virginia Tech e-mail (15 percent), voice mail to a home phone (10 percent), voice mail to an “other” phone (7 percent), and voice mail to an office phone (6 percent). Percentage totals exceed 100 percent because subscribers can sign up for more than one contact method.

The primary or first method of message delivery selected most by subscribers is a text message at 72 percent, followed by a voice message to a mobile phone (16.2 percent), an instant message (3.8 percent), a message to a non-Virginia Tech e-mail (2.9 percent), a voice message to an office phone (2.6 percent), a voice message to a home phone (2.1 percent), and a voice message to an “other” phone (0.5 percent).

VT Alerts is part of a fully integrated and coordinated notification system maintained by Virginia Tech’s Office of University Relations. It augments other communications tools, including the university homepage and the Virginia Tech News homepage, broadcast e-mail alerts, broadcast voice-mail messages, a recorded hotline (540-231-6668), the university switchboard, and a coordinated use of public media outlets, used to convey urgent messages.

Source: Virginia Tech

College of Charleston Adopts Connect-ED® Communication Service as New Emergency Notification System

2007-10-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

Charleston, SC --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- October, 9 2007 - The College of Charleston announced that it has signed an agreement with Connect-ED Communication Service to provide an emergency notification system that will be capable of reaching faculty, students and staff within minutes of a campus crisis.

The service will be implemented with limited capabilities this month, with testing in phases throughout the fall. It is expected to be fully functional by the end of 2007.

Students will be notified as to how and when to update their contact information in the College’s Student Information System. The system will allow them to insert multiple notification phone numbers for themselves and for their family members.

The system will be used for emergencies only.

Connect Ed is an emergency telephone system that sends notification before, during and after an emergency. With this new system, the College of Charleston will be able to communicate in many modes including voice messages to home, work and cell phones; text messages to cell phones, PDAs and other devices; written messages to email accounts; and messages to teletypewriters and telecommunication devices (TTY/TDD) for the hearing impaired.

“This new emergency notification system will significantly enhance our ability to maintain a learning environment in which students feel safe, secure and comfortable,” says Victor Wilson, Executive Vice President for Student Affairs. “ We now have the ability to contact students and faculty in the event of an emergency any time, anywhere.”

The new Connect-Ed system is expected to cost approximately $30,000 or about $2 per person.

Source: College of Charleston

Northern Virginia Community College deploys Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN)

2007-10-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) Launches Roam Secure Alert Network for Emergency Notification

Alexandria, VA --[Emergency Notification News]-- October 4, 2007 Roam Secure, Inc. today announced Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) has purchased and deployed Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN). College and campus administrators and public safety officials can send targeted alerts via SMS text messages on cell phones and to students, faculty and staff. Students (or their parents) can register for the system, NOVA Alert, at no charge by visiting https://alert.nvcc.edu or by texting “NOVA” to 411911.

NOVA, the second-largest community college in the country is located in the heart of Northern Virginia’s technology corridor just outside Washington, D.C.; with campuses in Alexandria, Annandale, Loudoun, Manassas, Springfield and Woodbridge. With RSAN, the entire student body or those at selected campuses, both on and off campus, can be notified. The system is capable of reaching most text-enabled device including cell phones, pagers, e-mail, and BlackBerry. RSAN also integrates with other communication media that may be deployed such as message boards, sirens, and speakers providing a single using a layered approach to mass notification.

“NOVA has a very mobile student body with many full- and part-time students spread across the greater Washington region on campus, at work, home or on the road. Reaching our students quickly with emergency information is very important and we have taken great strides to keep our students, staff, and faculty informed via a variety of methods and technologies. Our students communicate at home, school and work through e-mail and text alerting on a daily basis. Now we can reach out to them quickly using Roam Secure. The system also integrates with the other alerting systems in the surrounding local jurisdictions via Roam Secure’s emergency information exchange,” said Dr. Steven Sachs, NOVA’s VP for Instructional & Information Technology.

About Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College is the largest institution of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the second largest community college in the nation. NOVA enrolls more than 60,000 students at its six campuses in Alexandria, Annandale, Loudoun, Manassas, Springfield and Woodbridge, and through the distance learning program at its Extended Learning Institute. For more information about NOVA and its programs or services, call (703) 323-3000 or visit the College’s Web site at www.nvcc.edu.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Connect-CTY(R) Service Provides Multi-language Message Capabilities to Ensure Emergency Notifications Reach Temple City's Diverse Community

2007-10-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

TEMPLE CITY, Calif., Oct. 4 --[Emergency Notification News]-- The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI) announced today that Temple City has selected the Connect-CTY mass communication service. Temple City has implemented the Connect-CTY service to provide city officials the ability to communicate via multiple languages with its diverse community, regarding time-sensitive matters, such as unforeseen events or emergencies.

"The best way to keep residents safe is through communication, and the Connect-CTY service makes it easy to communicate with residents of a diverse community with its multilingual capabilities," said Robin D. Richards, Chairman and CEO of NTI.

The Connect-CTY service allows city officials to send and track personalized voice messages to thousands of residents, businesses, and local officials in just minutes, through a single phone call. Messages can be sent in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin and Vietnamese. The service requires no additional hardware; it can be used from any computer with Internet access or telephone, ensuring that officials can send vital messages from wherever they are located. The city also can track homes that were reached with a report on the results of outgoing messages.

City administrators can target messages to an unlimited number of groups -- everything from mobilizing emergency response teams to notifying necessary department heads. Authorized users also can use a map on the Connect-CTY system to contact people associated with specific geographical locations, sending messages only to select neighborhoods when needed.

Temple City will be conducting its first test-call today, to ensure all residents who would like to be included in the system are given a chance to correct their phone numbers. Primary residential and business phones in Temple City will automatically be included in the system. If residents do not receive the call, they should visit the city's Web site at http://www.ci.temple-city.ca.us and click on the "SIGN UP NOW -- SERVICES BY CONNECT-CTY" link to enter their contact information into the secure Connect-CTY database.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Multi-National Force-Iraq Deploys AtHoc IWSAlerts in Camp Slayer for Emergency Notifications

2007-10-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

AtHoc's Network-centric Emergency Alerting System Now Fielded in Forward Positions to Rapidly Warn Personnel about Enemy Arms Fire

BURLINGAME, Ca. --[Emergency Notification News]- (October 2, 2007) -- AtHoc, Inc., the leader in network-centric emergency notification systems, today announced AtHoc IWSAlerts™ has been deployed in Camp Slayer, Baghdad, Iraq for the purpose of force protection. The Multi-National Force-Iraq is using IWSAlerts to provide emergency alerting for several hundred personnel, including rapidly warning them of enemy arms fire, impending attacks and severe weather conditions.

The alerts effectively and efficiently notify personnel of the emergency situation and provide details on how long the alert is in effect. Using IWSAlerts, military and civilian personnel in Camp Slayer rapidly receive warnings about threats, as well as clear instructions for action, such as temporarily increasing uniform posture in response to enemy fire. Within seconds, the operations center can activate pre-defined alerting scenarios, which turn networked computers into an integrated physical alarm system, capturing the attention of nearby personnel through loud audio and visual messages. The system can be integrated with sensors to automatically activate scenarios and warnings for incoming threats. Command centers now can proactively alert personnel of attacks and help ensure a quick and safe response.

AtHoc IWSAlerts was selected due to its ease and speed of deployment. AtHoc worked with local network technicians to install and configure the product within days. Army security specialists then ran numerous tests over a two-week period for information assurance certification before deploying the commercial-off-the-shelf software on their operational network. Initially deployed for Air Force personnel, the system was quickly extended to the Army and Navy who were co-located within the same joint command.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Los Angeles Unified School District Becomes the Largest School District in the Country to Implement a District Wide Mass Notification Service

2007-10-01T00:01:00.001-07:00

District Selects Connect-ED® from The NTI Group, Inc. to Keep Students Safe and Parents Informed

SHERMAN OAKS, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- October 1, 2007- The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI) announced today that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has selected the Connect-ED notification service. The system will be used for school-to-parent communication in the event of an emergency, but will also be used for regular attendance notifications, as well as important school and district announcements. “We applaud LAUSD officials for taking charge of student safety and utilizing the Connect-ED system to communicate with parents and organize staff during emergency situations,” said Robin D. Richards, Chairman and CEO of NTI. “Effective communication during emergency situations is vital to student safety.”

The Connect-ED service will also enable school administrators to increase their communication with the school community by sending messages in multiple languages to parents and staff members in a matter of minutes. This means that the district can ensure that parents will receive important information about the safety of their children in the language they use at home.

The Connect-ED service also allows LAUSD to engage parents by notifying them of important announcements, updates and meetings. The service can be used to inform parents of upcoming teacher/parent meetings and information about attendance, holidays, field trips and bus routes. It can also be tailored to send messages to parents with children in specific grades or to parents of students participating in a particular sports team or club.

The fully hosted service does not require additional hardware, so the Connect-ED service can be used from any telephone or computer with Internet access, allowing LAUSD administrators to send vital messages from wherever they are located – even if they are evacuated in an emergency situation.

To ensure that important messages and alerts reach students and staff quickly, no matter what their preferred method of communication is, the Connect-ED system sends voice and text messages through four different modes of communication:

Voice messages to home phones, work phones, cell phones, and e-mails
Text messages to cell phones, PDAs and other text-based devices
Written messages to e-mail accounts
Messages to TTY/TDD receiving devices for the hearing impaired

Source: Vendor Press Release

MIR3’s Campus-Notification System is Praised for Performance During Real-Life Threat at New York’s St. John’s University

2007-10-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

MIR3 inCampusAlert is Praised by New York Governor, New York City Police Commissioner, State Assembly Member and University Administration.

NEW YORK, NY –[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- October 1, 2007 – After a masked gunman was spotted and subdued without a single injury on the campus of St. John’s University on September 26, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told a news conference, “St. John's newly instituted emergency text messaging system worked like a charm.” The inCampusAlert™ Intelligent Notification (IN®) system, provided to St. John’s University by MIR3™, a California technology company that specializes in automated emergency notification systems for corporations, governments and universities, was credited with quickly keeping the campus population informed and calm and for enhancing public safety during the crisis.

MIR3 claims that inCampusAlert is the only mass notification system in the market today which allows for true two-way texting. According to MIR3, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer praised the recently installed MIR3 campus-notification system at St. John’s University, and New York Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman offered legislation requiring universities to implement emergency campus-notification at college and university campuses throughout New York State.

Dr. James Pellow, chief operating officer of St. John's University, lobbied his administration for an emergency notification system shortly after the Virginia Tech tragedy in April 2007. inCampusAlert was installed in early September. Last week, Dr. Pellow was quoted in the media as saying, “No one thought that we would be testing this latest technology this quickly for an emergency”... it “allowed us to manage this mini-city of 20,000 people.” The initial emergency alert was sent using MIR3 technology to St. John University’s campus on September 26 by Thomas Lawrence, the university's vice president for public safety and a former deputy chief of the New York Police Department. The message read as follows: “From Public Safety. Male was found on campus with rifle. Please stay in your buildings until further notice. He is in custody, but please wait until the all clear.”

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, more than 70 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds own a cell phone and 92 percent of them use text messages regularly. “The University's response serves as a national model,” New York Police Commissioner Kelly added. “Coincidentally, St. John's was one of the participants in our campus security conference last week, during which we examined the emergency response at Virginia Tech, and other campuses.”

Source: Vendor Press Release

NTI Group Announces Indiana University Selects Connect-ED(R) for Campus-Notification

2007-09-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

IU-Notify will allow university and campus leaders to reach thousands of students in minutes

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NETWORK]-- September 25, 2007 - Indiana University announced it has selected the Connect-ED® communication service by the NTI Group Inc. (NTI) to provide a notification system that will be capable of reaching faculty, students and staff on all eight campuses within minutes. The service, part of the broader "IU-Notify" initiative, will be implemented with limited capabilities in October, tested in phases through fall, and should be fully functional by the end of the calendar year.

"This system provides a much-needed tool to reach the entire IU community with important information on short notice," said IU President Michael A. McRobbie. "It can be used for everything from weather delays to other administrative news. It is essential that we be able to notify students immediately in emergency situations because up-to-date communication helps minimize the spread of misinformation, maintain order and provide direction."

"We recognized the important role that immediate communication plays in keeping members of our community safe and have been looking at these services for some time. Of course, the post-event reports of the Virginia Tech incident absolutely served to verify our thinking and speed our process," said Mark Bruhn, associate vice president, information and infrastructure assurance. "As a main component of our critical incident communications plan, IU-Notify with its multimodal capabilities will allow us to keep individuals informed, whether they are in their dorms or offices, sitting in front of their computers, or on their way to class."

Bruhn added, "This system allows IU to load contact information for all students, faculty, staff and for others who may be physically on one of our campuses for an extended period, such as IU Foundation employees, volunteer faculty, visiting scholars, and contract employees. We also provide for parents who may wish to subscribe to certain types of communications." The data will come from central student, employee and faculty databases, and from an online self-service form in IU's OneStart portal (onestart.iu.edu). The online form is scheduled for release in early October. A strategy/policy group has been formed to address issues, policies, standards and procedures for IU-Notify.

About Indiana University
Indiana University enrolls 99,122 undergraduate and graduate students on campuses in Bloomington, Indianapolis, New Albany, South Bend, Kokomo, Fort Wayne, Richmond and Gary. It employs more than 16,000 faculty and staff.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Send Word Now and BNET Partner to Deliver Emergency Notification for Corporate Emergency Access System Members

2007-09-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

System Members Successfully Notified During Manhattan Steam Pipe Explosion Emergency

LAS VEGAS --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- September 24, 2007 - Send Word Now, a provider of on-demand alerting and response services, has announced a partnership with Business Network of Emergency Resources Inc. (BNET) a to integrate BNET’s CEAS with Send Word Now’s real-time mobile alerts via text and voice messages on cell phones, BlackBerry and Treo devices.

Created by BNET, the Corporation Emergency Access System (CEAS) uses a “critical employee access card” system to mitigate the economic loss incurred through unforeseen emergencies such as the recent steam pipe explosion in Manhattan, which resulted in travel and access restrictions. By enabling business to initiate a re-entry and recovery process as quickly as possible, CEAS allows companies to maintain core IT systems, meet regulatory requirements and secure critical data and records in the aftermath of an emergency; all with the aim of continuing the functions of business throughout or soon after a disaster.

During this summer’s steam pipe explosion on Lexington Avenue in New York City, steam and mud were forced from the ground near Grand Central Station on East 41st Street from Third to Lexington Avenue forcing people to evacuate the area. With the Send Word Now service, BNET was able to send text or voice alerts to CEAS members’ cell phones and PDAs. They were notified immediately when CEAS was activated by the City and were given status updates on the situation.

“We were extremely impressed with the deployment of the CEAS program at the site of the Manhattan steam pipe explosion, and were pleased that the Send Word Now on-demand alerting and response service was such a vital part of our communications,” said Peter Picarillo, Executive Director of BNET, Inc. “Response to an emergency is clearly more than just evacuating people; it is also about getting people back in. This emergency situation demonstrated to us and to all the CEAS participating businesses that the City of New York takes business recovery very seriously.”

In addition to New York City, BNET’s CEAS program has also been implemented in Buffalo, New York, Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Stamford, Connecticut. More cities like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are expected to participate in the near future. Any city, county or state can adopt CEAS through a written agreement with BNET. Once adopted by a municipality, any business can elect to participate in the program, assigning a designated number of CEAS cards to critical employees or contractors, prior to any emergency or disaster.

Source: Vendor Press Release

New Canaan Adopts Connect-CTY® Service to Improve Emergency Preparedness and Communication

2007-09-24T00:01:00.001-07:00

Testing to Ensure Residents are Ready to Receive Important Messages

NEW CANAAN, CT--[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- September 24th. The Town of New Canaan announced it has arranged with the mass communication provider Connect-CTY for a service that provides town officials the ability to communicate with all residents regarding time-sensitive matters, such as emergencies and important planned and unforeseen events.

This important tool allows town officials to send and track personalized voice messages to thousands of residents, businesses, and local officials in just minutes. The service requires no additional hardware; it can be used from any computer with Internet access or telephone, ensuring that officials can send vital messages from wherever they are located. Messages can be sent by email, text-messaging-to-cell-phones as well as by voice to the recipient’s primary phone. The town also can track homes that were reached with a report on the results of outgoing messages. The system is provided by the company that provides a similar alert notification service for the New Canaan School District.

“Quick, accurate communication in an emergency situation has an impact on safety,” said James Cole, Emergency Management Director and Chair of the New Canaan Police Commission. “Having a fully-featured system that allows us to send messages to the community through several modes of contact will enhance our likelihood of reaching all residents, whether they are at home, work or out of town.” “With Connect-CTY, we have the capacity to immediately inform the entire community, or just affected neighborhoods, regarding time-sensitive matters of public interest, such as flooding, a gas leak or missing person,” Cole said.

Town administrators can target messages to an unlimited number of groups – everything from mobilizing emergency response teams to notifying necessary department heads. Authorized users also can use a map on the Connect-CTY system to contact specific geographical locations, sending messages only to select neighborhoods when needed.

Primary residential and business phones in New Canaan will automatically be included in the system. However, residents can opt-in to provide their complete information (up to three phone numbers and two e-mail addresses for each registered user) by visiting the New Canaan Web site (www.newcanaan.info) and clicking on the indicated link to enter their information into the secure database. Families can make each member a registered user. Those without Internet access can have their information added into the system by calling the Emergency Operations Center at (203) 594-4100 and leaving a recorded message. Residents with call blocking services can ensure they can receive the town’s time-sensitive calls by adding (203) 594-3000 to their approved number list.

“The best way to keep residents safe is through communication, and this service makes it easy,” reported Mr. Cole. “With the Connect-CTY service, administrators have a powerful tool for mass communication without having to purchase new computers, software and telephone lines.”

New Canaan will be conducting its first test-call on Sept. 28, in order to ensure all residents who would like to be included in the system are given a chance to correct their phone numbers. If residents do not receive the call, they should visit the town’s Web site at www.newcanaan.info and click on the indicated link to enter their contact information into the Connect-CTY database.

Residents without Internet access can have their information added into the database by calling (203) 594-4100 and leaving a recorded message.

Jim Cole, town director of emergency preparedness and chairman of the Police Commission was quoted in The Norwalk Advocate on October 6, 2007 as saying "New Canaan contracted with NTI for one year at a cost of $17,500."

Source: Town of New Canaan Press Release

University of Missouri Expands Emergency Notification Capabilities with 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert

2007-09-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

64,000-Student University to Rely on 3n to Ensure the Safety of Campuses.
All State of Missouri Agencies Eligible for Emergency Notification Services Under State-Wide Contract.

GLENDALE, CA--[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- September 24, 2007 – 3n (National Notification Network), a mass notification system provider, today announced that the University of Missouri’s four campuses will expand their emergency notification capabilities using 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert.

The University and 3n announced Monday that the 3n InstaCom Campus Alert system has been selected to automate emergency communications with students, faculty, staff and administration on the UM campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. Under a three-year contract, the 3n system will be installed during the coming weeks.

Using 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert system, the University of Missouri plans to communicate during emergencies using a variety of modes of communication, including phone, e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, pager, fax and BlackBerry devices.

The system is planned to allow rapid communication with an array of devices on or off campuses, expanding the University’s capacity in delivering quick and reliable crisis notifications to the entire UM community or to targeted audiences on a specific campus.

“The University of Missouri is committed to providing a safe and secure environment to learn, live and work,” said Dr. Gordon H. Lamb, Interim President of the University of Missouri. “By partnering with 3n for its mass notification services, the University builds on that commitment in a significant and strategic way. This will help us to quickly and efficiently communicate with our students, faculty, staff and others using an array of technologies.”

Prior to selecting 3n, the University of Missouri relied heavily on phone trees, voice messages and e-mail, which may not reach all necessary audiences with the appropriate messages in a timely manner.

With about 64,000 students plus thousands of faculty and staff spread statewide across four campuses, the University of Missouri’s crisis notification and communications needs are far-reaching and complex. The University needed the capacity to issue event-based alerts tailored to specific, targeted audiences as well as the ability to communicate rapidly across a single campus or system-wide for large-scale emergencies.

The University identified several key criteria in its notification system selection process: ease of use; ability to integrate with existing systems; guaranteed infrastructure security and reliability; and ability to address challenges specific to a campus environment, including delivering messages using student-friendly contact paths, such as instant messaging and true two-way Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging.

About the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri is the state’s land-grant, research and doctoral-granting public higher education system, with campuses at Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. The University was founded in 1839 as the first public university west of the Mississippi River and the first state University in Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase territory. For more information, log onto the University of Missouri System homepage at www.umsystem.edu

Source: Vendor Press Release

MIR3 Announces International SOS OEM Medical Alerting Agreement

2007-09-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

MIR3's inWebServices integration to provide Intelligent Notification to International SOS global network of Medical Assistance Alarm Centers

SAN DIEGO, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- September 19, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, has signed an OEM agreement with International SOS, the world's leading provider of medical assistance, international healthcare, security services, and outsourced customer care to deliver MIR3's Intelligent Notification technology--two-way phone, cell, SMS, email, and pager capability at any time, any where - to clients globally through International SOS Online Services.

"When combined with the International SOS global network of Alarm Centers, the joint solution ensures the accuracy and availability of the latest client information, such as medical condition, family contact details, and certification for air evacuation." Todd Schofield, chief technology officer of International SOS, said, "At International SOS, we are constantly looking for innovations that can further improve our emergency response infrastructure. Delivered through our Online Services tools, the coupling of the MIR3 intelligent notification engine with our global network of 27 Alarm Centers will enhance the speed and cost efficiency of our emergency response infrastructure."

“The MIR3 fast, secure communication platform is a natural solution to the demanding notification requirements of a leading global enterprise operation such as International SOS,” said Dan Long, chief technology officer at MIR3. “Our global infrastructure ensures the success of our partners.” MIR3’s inWebServices™ product allows OEM partners to tightly integrate MIR3’s communication engine into their applications and infrastructure. Built on secure, enterprise-grade technology, inWebServices bridges the gap between all standard forms of communication to enable high-speed two-way communications to tens of thousands of users and devices across all modalities, including email, wireless pager, PDA, landline, mobile phone, satellite phone, TDD/TTY, fax, and two-way SMS. MIR3's notification capabilities can also be used for routine high- volume messaging and all-purpose broadcasting such as administrative notices to employees, messages for coordinating staffing and schedules, and delivering important, auditable information to customers.

About International SOS
International SOS is the world's leading provider of medical assistance, international healthcare, security services and outsourced customer care. With 5,000 professionals operating in over 70 countries, International SOS helps organizations manage the health and safety risks facing their travelers and global workforce. Working in some of the most inhospitable places on earth, International SOS offers international standards of medical care where it is not available or where cultural and language barriers exist. For more information , visit www.internationalsos.com, phone Petrina Ong at +65 6330 9826 (Singapore) or email petrina.ong@internationalsos.com

Source: Vendor Press Release

Strohl Systems Releases LDRPS 10.2 featuring tighter integration with NōtiFind

2007-09-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.--[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Sept 17, 2007- Strohl Systems® announced today that the latest version of LDRPS®, is now available. LDRPS 10.2 features increased integration with Strohl’s emergency notification system NōtiFind®. In addition, through the improved Plan Navigator™ feature, the new version enables users to build custom interfaces for their users, streamlining and strengthening their plan building efforts.

The new integration claims near real-time synchronization of data between LDRPS and NōtiFind and still enables users to contact entire organizations or those assigned only to specific plans. In addition, NōtiFind enables users to contact people assigned to core components such as applications, hardware or business processes.

“This new functionality in LDRPS 10.2, in conjunction with NōtiFind, provides a much more powerful duo,” said Eric Strohl, President of Strohl Systems. “Organizations will be able to use LDRPS and NōtiFind together to specifically target their business continuity communications based on their at-time-of-disaster needs.”

The new features and NōtiFind integration are available in all versions of LDRPS – Essential, Professional and Enterprise – as well as in OnDemand, Hosted and perpetual license versions. NōtiFind is powered by Varolii.

Source: Vendor Press Release

San Diego City Mayor Unveils Reverse 911® Broadcast System

2007-09-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

$180,000 Reverse 911® system has the capacity to make two 30-second voice mail broadcasts a minute, giving the City the ability to broadcast to a total of 11,520 devices in an hour.

San Diego, CA - [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Sept 6, 2007 - As part of National Preparedness Month and to further highlight the City’s increased ability to respond to emergencies, Mayor Jerry Sanders today unveiled the City’s new Reverse 911® emergency notification call system. The system can optionally deliver emergency messages to as many as 240,000 households and businesses in an hour.

Reverse 911®, recently acquired by PlantCML, Inc. from Sigma LLC, is web-based, community-alerting system is designed to make mass telephone calls to the public in a timely manner during emergencies or disasters. The system uses a combination of databases and GIS mapping technologies to quickly target and effectively disseminate emergency notification calls to a precise geographic area.

The City of San Diego purchased Reverse 911® as another tool to rapidly broadcast emergency notifications to the public in the event of an emergency. The system hardware, software and three-year contract cost $180,000. The system was paid for with Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Homeland Security grant funds. Additional per event pricing for the Mass Call® feature during large emergencies wasn't specified.

When activated, the Reverse 911® system uses the 911 telephone database to initiate a voice mail broadcasted message via landline telephones to San Diego residents and businesses in the affected areas. A taped message delivers instructions on how to proceed during the ongoing emergency. Individuals using non-landline cellular and VoIP phones can also register their numbers online to receive the emergency calls.

When would be Reverse 911® be activated?
Reverse 911® would only be activated for the following emergency situations:

Evacuation notices
Imminent or perceived threat to health, life or property within the City of San Diego
Disaster notifications
Public safety tests to verify data accuracy and system operability

How many calls can be made?

The Reverse 911® system offers a variety of features designed to meet small, medium, and large-scale—including citywide—notification needs.
For large-scale disasters and emergencies, the City has the ability to activate the system’s Mass Call® feature. This feature provides the ability to use a remotely located telecommunications hub with the capacity to make up to 240,000 30-second community emergency calls per hour.
During small- and medium-scale emergencies, the Reverse 911® system has the capacity to initiate two 30-second voice-mail broadcasts a minute, giving the City the ability to broadcast to a total of 11,520 telephony devices in an hour.
If more than the 11,520 voice-mail broadcasts are required in an hour, the City of San Diego can request assistance from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department via mutual aid. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department utilizes a similar Reverse 911® system which includes landlines within the city and can effectively double the broadcasts per hour to 23,040. When more than 23,040 calls need to be made in a given hour, the Mass Call® feature can be activated.

What is the activation process?

An incident occurs and is reported.
Reported incidents are routed to the San Diego Police Department Watch Commander.
The Watch Commander initiates the relay of information through a prescribed chain of command.
The information ultimately flows to the Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Public Safety and Homeland Security (DCOO).
The DCOO notifies and consults with the Mayor, Chief Operating Officer, and Communications Director (Executive Team).
Executive Team makes the decision to issue or not issue the Reverse 911® call.
A series of final organizational steps are followed until the message is ultimately launched by the San Diego Police Department Communications Division.

How are the defined areas chosen?

Notification ares are defined by subject matter experts (Fire, Police, Water, etc.)
The number of required calls is calculated by the system based on the defined area.
The City Executive Team decides on the appropriate call areas and approves the capacity deployment.

Who broadcasts the Reverse 911® messages to the public?

The City of San Diego Police Department is the entity that broadcasts the actual Reverse 911® emergency notifications to the public on behalf of the City of San Diego. Although cellular phone numbers and VoIP numbers are not currently in the system database (because it only contains landline telephone numbers), these numbers can be added to the system. To receive Reverse 911® on a cellular telephone or VoIP, an individual needs to complete the Reverse 911® Cellular/VoIP Addition Authorization Form on the City of San Diego Office of Homeland Security webpage at http://www.sandiego.gov/ohs. Persons using a TTY/TDD phone system will also receive Reverse 911® notifications.

Source: San Diego City Press Release

3n Launches InstaCom™ Campus Alert 2.0 Mass Notification Solution

2007-09-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mass Notification Solution Targeted to Emergency Communication Needs of Colleges and Universities

GLENDALE, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- September 5, 2007 – 3n (National Notification Network), a global mass notification system provider, today announced the availability of InstaCom Campus Alert 2.0 with enhancements to meet growing demands from colleges and universities.

Version 2.0 to provide enhancements including:

Extended support for university-controlled self-registration portals,
Bulletin board-style call-in capabilities supplemented with sophisticated privacy and security features,
Advanced message-recording options for ease of use and maximum message effectiveness, and
Live call transfers.

3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert 2.0 is designed to provide colleges and universities with a scalable, cost-effective and quick-to-implement solution for targeted and campus-wide critical communication needs ranging from routine communications to emergency notification. The 3n system also claims up-to-the-second reporting of who has received and confirmed messages so administrators can gauge communication effectiveness.

3n provides InstaCom Campus Alert 2.0 via a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model with multiple data centers in an active-active configuration. SaaS enables customers to access software over the Internet without purchasing or maintaining hardware, software or telecommunications equipment. According to 3n, with active-active data centers, data is continuously replicated between data center locations. If service is disrupted at a data center location, all traffic is dynamically rerouted to a different site so that 3n's systems remain continuously available with no failover delays.

According to Larry Hincker, associate vice president of university relations at Virginia Tech, “The 3n InstaCom Campus Alert system is a sophisticated tool that is easy to use. I believe it can only further benefit our students, faculty, and staff.”

Source: Vendor Press Release

St. Lucie County's New Emergency Notification System Becomes Operational

2007-09-04T00:01:00.001-07:00

Fort Pierce, FL --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Sept 4, 2007 - St. Lucie County Public Safety, in collaboration with the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, St. Lucie County Fire District, Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie Police Departments, has taken a significant step in upgrading the ability to communicate critical emergency information to its residents. St. Lucie County Emergency Notification System (SLCENS), an automated telephone message delivery system, was activated on Sept. 1 and is now operational.

SLCENS can quickly deliver a voice message to telephones throughout St. Lucie County. The system will be activated and calls made to the affected community during emergencies in which there is a threat to life or property. Examples of such emergencies include critical missing person reports, natural disasters, hazardous materials or wildfire evacuation orders, and alerts of other eminent dangers.

Using a database that contains all of the telephone numbers in St. Lucie County and an integrated mapping program, SLCENS is able to isolate any specific geographic area and display the exact list of residential and business telephone numbers within it. For example, authorized personnel could identify all numbers within a half-mile area of a specific address within the county. St. Lucie County Public Safety, Sheriff's Office, Fire District, Fort Pierce or Port St. Lucie emergency response personnel are then able to create and send information or instructive messages to those telephones. SLCENS recalls numbers that are busy and leaves a message on phones that have a voice mail or answering machines.

SLCENS is able to reach as many telephones as the AT&T system can accommodate, possibly delivering as many as 30,000 messages in less than 10 minutes. All outgoing messages are in English, call recipients will be given the option to select Spanish if desired. FirstCall can deliver messages in more than 140 different languages. FirstCall of Baton Rouge, La., owns and operates the high-speed notification network on which SCLENS operates. FirstCall maintains 1,728 dedicated phone lines via a diverse entry fiber-optic network for outbound message delivery and is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by certified emergency notification personnel.

St. Lucie County residents with unlisted numbers can register for participation in the emergency telephone notification process. The privacy of these telephone numbers is protected under the normal non-disclosure agreement that FirstCall has with its clients. FirstCall Network also geo-codes cellular or wireless telephone numbers provided by residents or from the registration process.

Registration for the St. Lucie County Emergency Notification System can be done in three ways:

1. On line at www.firstcall.net and select Unlisted Registration.
E-mail unlisted@firstcall.net , list your name, phone number, street address, city, state and zip code.
Telephone by calling 1-866-484-3264. This process is very user friendly. Once the submitted number has been entered into the system, the person registering will then receive a message via the submitted number as a call back from the system confirming their registration.

Source: St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners

City of Winter Park and Rollins College Announce Emergency Notification Partnership

2007-09-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Winterpark, FL --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Sept. 4, 2007

The City of Winter Park and Rollins College held a press conference on Friday, August 31, to announce that they have partnered on a community emergency notification network. Dubbed "Outreach," the system will provide high-speed notification through multiple communication infrastructures including cell phones and loud speakers.

The City will own and operate the emergency alert system. The College is providing the City with a three-year, interest-free loan to make the system a reality. Rollins is also purchasing an additional siren/speaker which will be placed on campus to enhance communication. Authorized College personnel will be able to request that College-specific messages be broadcast over this speaker to the campus community.

"The City of Winter Park realizes the importance of communication, especially in a crisis situation and has brought emergency notification to a higher level. That is why we are implementing Outreach, the city's new comprehensive system to notify city residents during various emergency situations,” said Winter Park Mayor David C. Strong. “Rollins College is a great neighbor and partner within our city limits. It is integral to partner with the College as we put safety measures in place."

Winter Park Fire Chief Jim White described Outreach as “one of the most interactive and robust community-wide emergency alerting networks in the country."

Here are some features of the new system:

The Outreach network will combine the convenience of electronic devices that many of us turn to for information with the proven alerting benefit of outdoor voice and siren devices.

Using a network first established by the Federal government to communicate with troops in the field, Outreach will inform and interact with citizens in the event of a community emergency.

The Outreach network will afford emergency management personnel and other leaders in Winter Park the ability to not only alert residents, but also interact with citizens in need.

Outreach can alert citizens through landline and cell phones, e-mail and text messaging, FM radio and pagers. For those who may not be close to or have access to these devices, communications will occur via outdoor warning sirens.

As a part of Outreach, these outdoor warning sirens will include the ability to announce voice messages when large groups of people need to be directed to seek shelter or evacuate a venue.

"Tornadoes passing through Central Florida in February of this year and the Virginia Tech tragedy have underscored the importance of having in place a system that can quickly reach the members of our shared communities," said Rollins President Lewis Duncan.

Federal Signal and EMTEL will provide the infrastructure and technology to make Outreach possible. It is expected that portions of the system, including text messaging capabilities, will be operational by the end of October. Outreach is slated for complete functionality by the end of the year.

Source: Rollins College

CODE MAROON, Texas A&M's Emergency Notification System, Is Now Operational

2007-09-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

College Station, TX - [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Sept. 03, 2007 - CODE MAROON, Texas A&M University’s new emergency notification system, is now operational, Interim President Eddie J. Davis announced Monday (Sept. 3) in an electronic memorandum sent to all students, faculty and staff.

“All it (CODE MAROON) needs is you — if you have not already signed up,” Davis said in the campus-wide memo. “Thousands of students, faculty and staff have enrolled, giving us the ability to communicate health and safety-related emergency information quickly via e-mail and phone text messaging. It’s to everyone’s advantage to do so (to sign up). It could literally be a life-saver.”

While the university has long had the ability to contact students, faculty and staff, such as via the campus-wide system used for the Monday message, Davis said the tragedy at Virginia Tech earlier this year underscored the need to have multiple means for making quick contact — ideally, almost instantaneously via email and phone text message.

“Quick contact: That’s the CODE MAROON goal — a goal that can only be met if you and all of your fellow classmates and campus colleagues enroll,” Davis said.

He assured members of the campus community that their privacy will be respected. Also, he said everyone on campus will be informed prior to any testing of the new system.

“CODE MAROON will never be used for any purpose other than delivering critical information such as campus emergencies or weather-related closings,” Davis said. “That is the goal — for all students, faculty, staff and others on campus to feel safe and secure in Aggieland.

“It’s essential for you to take the first step: enroll in CODE MAROON, if you have not already done so, and help us be in the best position to be proactive in notifying you if an emergency should arise.”

He also urged recipients of the Monday memo to “talk to fellow Aggies and colleagues and ask them to show their ‘12th Man Spirit’ by getting involved and enrolling in the program.”

“Aggieland is a great place to be. Let’s all continue to make it a safe place to be,” Davis concluded.

To enroll in CODE MAROON, students, faculty and staff are requested to go to http://codemaroon.tamu.edu. They will need to use their NetID and password as part of the sign-up process. A full set of instructions appears on the first page of the Web site.

Code Maroon is powered by the e2Campus mass notification system. The e2Campus solution allows designated university administrators to send time-sensitive messages to the mobile phones, email, and/or pagers of Code Maroon subscribers — regardless of geographic location.

Source: Texas A&M University

e2Campus System in Place at Bryn Mawr College

2007-08-30T00:01:00.001-07:00

Bryn Mawr, PA-[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 30, 2007 - Over the summer, Bryn Mawr implemented a new emergency communication system to provide immediate information to students, faculty, staff, parents and other interested parties in the event of any campus emergency. The College has purchased a system called e2Campus to provide electronic communications in any of several formats, including telephone text messaging, e-mail and RSS feeds.

Registration (at http://www.brynmawr.edu/emergency/e2Campus.shtml) is free and takes only a few minutes. If you plan to register for mobile-phone text messages, you should have your phone with you when you register; the service will send you a confirmation number that is required to complete the form.

Any emergency message sent through e2Campus will appear on the Bryn Mawr Web site's gateway pages for current students, faculty, staff and parents; the system will be used to communicate information about weather and transportation as well as emergencies. The College has also purchased a siren that can be used to notify community members of emergencies.

Phone Registration and E-mail Forwarding for Students
According to Chief Operations Officer Jerry Berenson, communicating with students has become more difficult as they have embraced cell phones rather than the College's phone system. For the first time this year, the College will not assign dorm-room telephones unless students request them. The College strongly urges all students who use cell phones to register them with the College to ensure that the College can communicate both routine and urgent information to them. To register a telephone number, visit http://virtual.brynmawr.edu and follow the steps below:

Under "Self-Service," click on "Student Center" and then click the link to the Biographical Update Form.
Update your preferred contact phone number (may be a mobile phone number) and emergency contact information. Be sure to indicate which phone number should be included in the campus directory: dorm or mobile phone. If you choose to register a dorm phone, you must visit Telephone Services to activate your room phone.

Berenson notes that e-mail is also used for many important communications from the College. He recommends that students who prefer an outside e-mail service to their Bryn Mawr accounts have their Bryn Mawr e-mail forwarded. To initiate e-mail forwarding, go to http://www.brynmawr.edu/computing/docs/e-mailforward.shtml.

Source: Bryn Mawr Press Release

Northern Arizona University NAU improves emergency notification system

2007-08-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Flagstaff, Ariz. --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 30, 2007 - Students at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and their families have a new and fast way to learn about campus emergencies.

NAU today announced a new emergency text notification system that sends urgent text messages to students, faculty, staff and even family members.

NAU is partnering with Omnilert, LLC. and using its service e2Campus to create NAU Alert, a mass notification system to send text messages to cell phones in case of an emergency, including weather-related closures.

"The public safety partnership here at Northern Arizona University between the students, faculty, staff and the NAUPD will benefit tremendously from the improved communication created by the NAU Alert program," said NAU Police Department Chief GT Fowler.

The service is free and voluntary, but users must register to receive NAU Alert. They also can add an additional phone number as well, so that a family member or friend receives notification of an emergency.

"NAU prides itself on its great safety record, and we are doing all we can to keep it that way," Fowler said.

Currently NAU uses computer pop-ups, e-mail, web pages and the NAU Now Line (928-523-0007) to inform individuals of weather alerts or other emergencies. The university also works with local media to spread messages.

"NAU Alert is a great new tool we can use to get critical message sent out to students, parents, staff and faculty" said Fred Estrella, NAU chief information technology officer. "It will be another method we use to communicate effectively during an emergency situation."

Only emergency or other urgent messages will be sent via NAU Alert, and the system will not be used to distribute advertising or other unsolicited content.

Though the system is free, subscribers may have to pay fees associated with their text messaging service.

Source:

Thomas Bauer
NAU Office of Public Affairs
(928) 523-6126
Thomas.Bauer@nau.edu

University of Southern California Launches Roam Secure Alert Network for Emergency Notification (RSAN)

2007-08-28T00:01:00.001-07:00

Text Alerting System Showcased on NBC Nightly News

Arlington, VA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 28, 2007 - Roam Secure, Inc. today, announced that the University of Southern California (USC) has deployed the Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN™). TrojansAlert (https://trojansalert.usc.edu) enables campus public safety and university officials, to send targeted alerts to its 33,000 students and more than 17,000 faculty and staff. Parents of USC students can also sign up for the system.

USC’s main campus is located in downtown Los Angeles. The university also has a health sciences campus located east of downtown, plus facilities in Marina Del Rey, Orange County, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Santa Catalina Island, and Alhambra. With RSAN the entire campus, or targeted areas both on and off campus can be notified. The system is capable of reaching most text-enabled device including: cell phones, pagers, e-mail, Blackberry, instant messaging as well as voice calls via landline and cellular phones and fax. RSAN integrates with other communication media including indoor and outdoor speakers and AM radio station. The system also provides two-way messaging capabilities. All messages are stored and presented in the web-based application via the AlertTracker or to the field via a mobile device, creating an alert summary and audit trail.

Roam Secure supports more than 135 RSAN systems across the country at major cities, counties, states and federal government agencies, schools, hospitals, airports, refineries and other key businesses for routine and emergency communication. The Roam Secure Information Exchange (RSIX) enables the University of Southern California to automatically and securely connect with other RSAN systems in six major metropolitan areas, including the Northern California Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center (NC RTTAC) and the three county system in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin. USC’s system can also share information with other RSAN systems across the country in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Colorado via RSIX. Each new RSAN system, including existing systems throughout California, can join the growing national emergency information exchange and share private and public all hazards emergency information regionally, statewide and nationally at no additional charge.

“USC joins a growing number of Universities across the country deploying RSAN and RSIX. USC has deployed a text-based, fully interoperable emergency alert system that serves the students, faculty, parents, and campus security at USC,” said David Drescher, CEO of Roam Secure. “They have further enhanced their communication capabilities and are better prepared to communicate with their constituents quickly, on all types of devices, and share information with other colleges and government agencies across the country.”

NBC Nightly News showcased the USC alert system along with Washington, DC and Roam Secure. Watch the video at http://www.roamsecure.net/pressitem.php?news_id=189.

Source: Vendor Press Release

U of I Announces Hawk Alert Emergency Notification System

2007-08-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

IOWA, IOWA CITY -- [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS] -- Aug. 28, 2007 - University of Iowa administrators will soon be able to send emergency voice and text messages to students, faculty and staff within minutes, thanks to a new emergency notification system, called "Hawk Alert." University administrators are urging all students, staff and faculty to add or update their cell and other phone numbers in the university's database as soon as possible.

The first phase of the Hawk Alert System will include voice calls and e-mail, and will be implemented by Sept. 1. By Nov. 1, the second phase will add text messages for those with text messaging capabilities, such as text-message-enabled cell phones.

"The recent bomb scare on the UI Pentacrest illustrates the need for such a notification system," says Steve Parrott, UI spokesperson.

"Even though we had a mass e-mail prepared within a few minutes of learning that there might be bombs on campus, it took too long for the e-mails to be delivered, and many people are away from their e-mail for extended periods. This new system promises to send messages within minutes to thousands of phones and text-message devices at once," Parrott says.

"The new service gives the university the ability to contact students, faculty and staff in the event of an emergency, using a variety of methods," Parrott says. "Once students and employees add or update their cell and other phone numbers, they can rest assured that we will do our best to contact them at the numbers provided if there is an emergency situation."

"Except for testing, our intention is to use the Hawk Alert System only in the event of an emergency," Parrott says, "and personal cell phone numbers provided specifically for the emergency system will not be used for other purposes, nor will they be listed in any public directories." Detailed instructions on how to provide emergency numbers are available at http://hawkalert.uiowa.edu.

The service being used by the Hawk Alert system is Connect-ED®, developed by The NTI Group, Inc., of Sherman Oaks, California specifically for schools, colleges and universities.

"The University is also investing in a series of notification towers equipped with sirens and voice alert systems that also will help ensure that those on campus hear alerts and warnings," Parrott says. "We hope to have these towers up and working in the next few months."

"A test call will be made in early September to ensure that each individual successfully receives the message. Test calls will be made as infrequently as possible," Parrott says. "We don't want anything, especially annoyance with unwanted calls, to prevent people from providing their numbers for this important function."

SOURCE: University of Iowa News Services, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 371, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2500

MIR3 Announces Completion of TelAlert Acquisition - Industry Consolidation Continues

2007-08-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Integrated Company Now Single Source for Strategic Enterprise-Wide IT and Business Continuity Intelligent Notifications

SAN DIEGO, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 27, 2007 - MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, today announced the completion of its acquisition of the TelAlert software business unit of CalAmp Corporation (NASDAQ:CAMP), a leading provider of wireless products, systems and services headquartered in Oxnard, California.

CalAmp previously announced that the transaction was valued at approximately $10M in cash, a note and preferred stock in privately-held MIR3. For many years TelAlert has been the industry leader in wireless notification for IT, providing enterprise customers with the communications infrastructure to meet critical service-levels.

TelAlert integrates with major IT infrastructure management applications including HP OpenView, HP ServiceCenter, BMC Remedy and Tivoli®; databases such as Oracle® and Sybase®; and system architectures from IBM®, Hewlett-Packard, Sun®, Microsoft® and Red Hat®. Thousands of companies, including 80 of the Fortune 100 U.S. companies and a growing number of global companies in Europe, Asia and Latin America, have deployed TelAlert’s software solutions.

Amir Moussavian, MIR3 president and CEO, said, "The acquisition of TelAlert creates the only global enterprise notification platform and allows us to provide superior market solutions based on leading IT and business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) notification technology. Through our extended suite of products and services, MIR3 is now positioned as a single-vendor source for all aspects of strategic enterprise-wide IT, BC/DR and supply chain management notifications.” Moussavian added, “TelAlert’s existing customers should rest assured that MIR3 is committed to providing the best product and customer support in the industry without interruption while preserving our customers’ investments in integration of their current TelAlert solutions with their IT enterprise systems.”

MIR3’s OEM and channel partners now have access to a richer, more scalable solutions portfolio that spans the realm of intelligent enterprise communications and includes hosted, installed and mobile solutions. MIR3 is committed to maintaining and sustaining all of the business and technical resources needed to support TelAlert and MIR3 customers and partners.

New Customer Appreciation Pricing Program Announced

In conjunction with the acquisition, MIR3 is rolling out the Customer Appreciation Pricing (CAP) program, designed to make it easy for TelAlert’s users to upgrade to TelAlert 6e. CAP is a unique, limited-time offer that gives customers full credit for every dollar they spent on their most recent TelAlert Messaging Server software purchases toward the purchase of a new TelAlert 6e configuration. TelAlert 6e is specifically designed as an enterprise messaging system that provides a fully integrated and assured communication channel by making use of existing corporate portals, databases and business applications. Built on top of the market-leading messaging engine, the TelAlert 6e SOA platform extends the service beyond IT and network management usage to include the global enterprise. To take advantage of the CAP offer, customers must commit to the upgrade by October 30, 2007. Customers may phone 1-510-903-4072 or email sales@telalert.com for CAP program details; or visit www.telalert.com/CAP.

“For the long term, customer relationships are unquestionably more important to us than an individual sale,” Moussavian said. “We’re determined to provide the best ongoing support to loyal TelAlert customers. The CAP offering signals our intention to be a vested partner in their success.”

Source: Vendor Press Release

Financial Services Consortium Created By Presidential Directive Selects MessageOne For Emergency Notification

2007-08-27T00:01:00.003-07:00

Austin, TX--[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 27, 2007 – MessageOne today announced it has been selected by the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) to offer the AlertFind emergency notification service to a membership of more than 4,000 financial institutions. Since signing on as a customer six months ago, FS-ISAC has utilized AlertFind to communicate urgent security information to its members. Extending the relationship will make it easier for financial services member organizations to protect employees.

Immediate Notification of Threats
Launched in 1999 by a presidential directive to secure U.S. resources, FS-ISAC works with the nation’s largest financial services institutions and the U.S. Treasury, to be the single source of timely, accurate physical and cyber security information. The FS-ISAC filters through and shares information from financial services providers, commercial security firms, federal, state and local government agencies, law enforcement and other trusted resources to minimize the impact of any threat for its members. When there is a threat or emergency, including natural disasters, coordinated cyber attacks, disease outbreaks or specific acts of terrorism, FS-ISAC uses AlertFind to help protect the critical U.S. infrastructure.

Given the urgent nature of FS-ISAC’s mission, AlertFind’s two-way communications capability is critical for saving lives and protecting assets in an emergency. AlertFind enables customers, like the FS-ISAC, to instantly contact thousands of employees or members to deliver important messages using individual’s preferred method of communication (e.g., cell phone, email, home phone, etc.). The system, which can tell the difference between a real person and voicemail, is able to deliver an spoken electronic or recorded message and even ask questions such as, “Are you okay?”

The Importance of a Platform for Communications

“Since financial service organizations can be a target for a variety of different cyber and physical threats, the ability to share information immediately through an automated, two-way system will empower our members with the facts they need to help keep U.S. infrastructure safe,” said Bill Nelson, president and CEO for FS-ISAC. “Specific cyber threats from overseas organized crime units, intense weather conditions that have crippled cities and regional power outages are just a few recent events that can have a real impact on our members. AlertFind enables us to easily communicate whenever one or all of our members might be affected by a threat or emergency.”

“As a MessageOne customer, we know first hand how valuable this tool is for financial services organizations,” said Blaise D'Ambrosio, vice president of Business Continuity for T. Rowe Price Group Inc. “Emergency notification helps financial services organizations drastically improve their ability to react to any crisis or emergency situation. First, it immediately connects management to employees to provide safety information. Once we know the status of our employees, we can begin implementing a recovery plan. Ensuring safety and protecting the vitality of our business is a powerful combination.”

About FS-ISAC

Launched in 1999, FS-ISAC was established by the financial services sector in response to 1998's Presidential Directive 63. That directive - later updated by 2003's Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 - mandated that the public and private sectors share information about physical and cyber security threats and vulnerabilities to help protect the U.S. critical infrastructure.

Source: Vendor Press Release

University of Pennsylvania Implements MIR3's Emergency Notification System for Alerting

2007-08-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

MIR3 selected for its secure, two-way, voice and text communication platform

SAN DIEGO –[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS] - August 27, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, has implemented inEnterprise™, a unified, multi-modal emergency communication system, at the University of Pennsylvania. With support for all types of voice- and text-based communication devices, inEnterprise provides two-way notifications and instructions to students, staff and parents during critical events.

“inEnterprise ensures communications during an emergency, no matter what type of device a person has at hand and even if one communication channel is jammed,” said Amir Moussavian, MIR3 president and CEO. “Its two-way functionality lets recipients acknowledge they’ve received an alert, so that first responders can track responses and react accordingly. By implementing inEnterprise, the University of Pennsylvania has taken a critical step toward ensuring communication and accountability to students and staff as well as to parents, off-campus law enforcement agencies and other external organizations.”

MIR3’s enterprise-grade platform was chosen for its functionality, cost, redundancy and security and for its successful deployment at several universities, as well as hundreds of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies such as the Pentagon, the Air Force and NASA.

“Emergency communications are a challenge at a university such as ours, which has widely dispersed campuses and decentralized departments with diverse requirements,” said Maureen S. Rush, vice president for public safety, University of Pennsylvania. “We looked carefully at several solutions that would meet everyone’s needs, and only MIR3’s emergency notification platform met all our requirements.”

The University of Pennsylvania, which is comprised of three campuses, 16 schools, nearly 24,000 students, and more than 20,000 staff and faculty, cited several features that were key to the selection of the MIR3 emergency notification platform:

Unlimited communication devices per user to support all options used by today’s technology-savvy students.
Two-way messages for both voice and data to allow the university to track notifications and quickly determine who is safe and who needs help.
A Message Bulletin Board feature that lets users call into a central number to obtain updates about the status of an event.
A fully hosted, redundant system that is located at three separate centers throughout the United States.
A unified approach for contacting parents using emergency contact data.
Robust data protection and security features to ensure user privacy and compliance with federal regulations.
A strong Application Program Interface (API) to automate the sharing of users’ emergency notification information with the university’s master database.

inEnterprise bridges the gap between all standard forms of communication to enable high-speed two-way communications to tens of thousands of users and devices across all modalities, including email, wireless pager, PDA, landline, mobile phone, satellite phone, TDD/TTY, fax and two-way text messaging. It can also be used for routine high-volume messaging and all-purpose broadcasting such as administrative notices to university staff, messages for coordinating faculty and schedules, and delivering information and receiving responses from students and parents that can be monitored and reported on.

Campus Security Task Force to Governor: First Responders Need Daily Campus-Alerting, Citizen-Alerting Communication Tools

2007-08-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

ST. Louis, MO -- [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS] -- August 22 - This was the clear message here today from the Campus Security Task Force: Rapid Response Subcommittee, part of 29-member task force on campus security, to Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt. Blunt commissioned the task force, consisting of mostly of higher education and law enforcement officials, after the shootings in April at Virginia Tech.

The entire report to the governor is here.

Communication between first responders and law enforcement agencies:
This issue is of critical importance for rapid response success.

Tactical and radio interoperability is an ongoing issue within first responder and law enforcement communities. Any emergency is rife with confusion and an inability for the key safety and security personnel to communicate effectively and efficiently only adds to the intrinsic chaos.

Interoperability of communications is essential. The State must lead the way and provide a statewide communications system that can be accessible by all first responders on a daily basis. It is also important that communication occur between the campus and the public. In an emergency situation it may be advisable to have the availability of satellite telephone technology to communicate with the public and first responders.

The campus security discussion is another in a long line of activities that represents
another component to the interoperability issue. Technological solutions exist and are being implemented in many cases to overcome t his obstacle, but this needs to be a continuing effort. Funding is important to achieve this goal.

The Rapid Response Groups subcommittee report to the Governor is here.

campus-alert campus-alerting Campus Campus-Security citizen-alert Communication saint louis st. Gov Blunt Rapid-Response campu-security Task-force

Pepperdine University Launches Comprehensive Emergency Communication System with 3n

2007-08-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

University Selects 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert Mass Notification System

GLENDALE, Calif. -[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-– August 21, 2007 – To further strengthen University emergency preparedness, Pepperdine University has launched a comprehensive campus-wide emergency communication system leveraging InstaCom Campus Alert, a mass notification system from 3n (National Notification Network), a mass notification system provider.

The 3n mass notification system enables Pepperdine to communicate with students, staff, and faculty in minutes via a number of contact methods—including native SMS text messaging, almost any voice-enabled device such as cell phones and landlines, instant messaging, pagers, and faxes—greatly increasing the likelihood that messages will be delivered and received in a timely manner.

3n’s emergency notification system can be used across Pepperdine’s multiple campuses to assemble and coordinate public safety and crisis response teams; convene immediate briefings for the Emergency Operations Committee; notify students, faculty and staff in minutes; and reach students on popular devices with voice and text simultaneously. It automatically cycles through all specified communication devices in an effort to reach people, reducing the time it takes to send critical messages while freeing up personnel to manage other critical tasks before, during and after an emergency.

Amcom Software Selected for Red Cell Project Preview

2007-08-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS] -- August 20, 2007 -- Amcom Software, a provider of mission critical communication software, today announced it has been selected to participate in the Red Cell project -- a platform for the detection, response and emergency communication associated with man-made and natural threats to public safety. Amcom is providing the emergency notification software for the solution which will be demonstrated for the Institute for Defense and Homeland Security (IDHS) in September 2007. The initiative is led by AMERICAN SYSTEMS -- a government IT solutions provider and one of the top 100 employee-owned companies in the U.S.

The objective of the Red Cell project is to ensure timely decision-making and rapid response in the event of man-made emergencies such as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive events. In addition, Red Cell may be used as a public safety service for natural disasters and as a complement to existing public notification systems.

"We have assembled an outstanding roster of partners to collaborate on Red Cell, and Amcom Software's expertise in emergency communications has been pivotal in this project," said Peter Smith, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Engineering Group, AMERICAN SYSTEMS. "Together, we have created an integrated platform that is destined to save lives and help dramatically enhance the safety and security of our citizens."

Red Cell is built on a standards-based, net-centric framework that interconnects sensor networks and mobile phone users located in a specific geographical area (cell tower footprint). Sensors will detect deviations from baseline data and notify appropriate first response command and control personnel who can then take immediate action. As a leading provider of software products for emergency communications, Amcom will contribute both the software and expertise for managing key elements of the Red Cell emergency notification system.

"Our e.Notify emergency communication solution has quickly been recognized as the leader in sophisticated, high-end mission critical notification systems," said Chris Heim, CEO for Amcom. "We are honored to play a key role in the development of Red Cell, and look forward to our role in helping transform the emergency communications capabilities in America."

About AMERICAN SYSTEMS

Founded in 1975, AMERICAN SYSTEMS is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States, generating 2006 revenues of approximately $231 million. Based in the Washington, DC, suburb of Chantilly, VA, the company provides systems engineering, technical and managed services to government and private sector customers. With approximately 1,500 employees in 22 office locations and more than 125 field sites, AMERICAN SYSTEMS is known for anticipating and responding rapidly to our customers' present and future needs.

HISD Leads the Nation in Proactive Preparation

2007-08-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

With Hurricane Dean Looming, The NTI Group Works Alongside HISD to Update
Parent Contact Information for the Connect-ED Emergency Communication System

HOUSTON, TX --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 17, 2007 - In preparation for the school year, Houston Independent School District (HISD) announced today a district-wide data drive for their school to parent notification system, Connect-ED from the NTI Group, Inc. As Hurricane Dean sets its course for Texas, HISD officials are taking this opportunity to encourage parents to give the school district updated contact information to make sure that the district can take full advantage of the Connect-ED service. The system gives district leaders and security professionals the ability to reach all parents and staff with time-sensitive information during unforeseen events or emergencies, within minutes, through a single phone call.

Last year, HISD used the Connect-ED system to deliver more than 3.3 million phone messages to parents and staff. With the school year starting on August 27 and hurricane season in full swing, having updated contact information in the Connect-ED system is crucial to reach parents and guardians with important district-wide announcements.

“It is critically important that we be able to get in touch with our parents immediately in emergencies or with other important school information,” Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. “With our new technology we can provide vital information directly to parents in minutes, but only if we have the correct contact information. We’re urging our parents to update their contact information with their schools as quickly as possible so that if we have an emergency and when we have important information to share, we can call them with those messages and reach everyone.”

“As students head back to school, we are strongly encouraging parents and college students across the nation to ensure that they take responsibility for providing their schools with up to date information as quickly as possible. Hurricane Dean serves as a reminder to all of us that we need to be prepared today,” said Robin Richards, Chairman and CEO of NTI.

The Connect-ED service enables campus leaders to schedule, send, and track personalized voice messages to up to six phone numbers per person, and sends messages via four different modes of communication:

Voice messages to home phones, work phones, cell phones, and even e-mails
Text messages to cell phones, PDAs and other text-based devices
Written messages to e-mail accounts
Messages to TTY/TDD receiving devices for the hearing impaired

Baton Rouge Mayor Announces New Emergency Notification System

2007-08-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Outreach Expanded to include Cell Phones and Email

Baton Rouge, LA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 16, 2007 - With the busiest period of hurricane season approaching, Mayor Melvin L. “Kip” Holden today announced a new system of emergency response outreach to notify the citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish by residential, business or cell phone as well as email, text message or devices for the hearing and speech impaired.

“New technology brings new ways to assure that every citizen is notified when an emergency occurs,” Mayor Holden said. “No longer is the home telephone the most effective way to reach a highly mobile society, so it’s important that we keep up with the changing needs of our community.”

East Baton Rouge Parish has selected Connect-CTY to provide a system that will allow parish officials to notify citizens through voice and text messages and to allow residents to sign up unlisted numbers for emergency contact through the city-parish website, BRgov.com.

“We are the first city in Louisiana to adopt the Connect-CTY service,” Holden said, “again putting Baton Rouge at the forefront of utilizing advanced technology in emergency response.”

Test calls to businesses currently in the database are scheduled for Friday, August 17th around 4:30 p.m. and test calls to residential numbers currently in the database will begin at 6:30 p.m. Residents will receive a message from Mayor Holden indicating the call is testing to assure their number is in the system.

The city is now collecting e-mail addresses, cell phone and unlisted landline numbers to also be included in the Connect-CTY communication service. Additionally, the city is requesting that citizens alert the city should they wish to receive messages via their TTY/TDD receiving device for the hearing impaired.

Primary residential and business phones in Baton Rouge have been automatically included in the system. Residents can opt-in to have their unlisted contact information included for emergency notifications by visiting the Baton Rouge website (brgov.com) and clicking on the “Emergency Information” link on the left side of the home page, then the link that says “SIGN UP NOW – SERVICES BY CONNECT-CTY” to enter additional information into the secure database.

“The lessons of Hurricane Katrina and Rita taught us how critical it is to communicate with our citizens during emergencies,” Holden said. “It’s important that we be able to notify residents through multiple means of communication to assure that we get life-saving information to them. This system allows us to communicate at any given moment or location and will serve as a reliable, effective tool in Baton Rouge’s emergency planning and preparedness.”

East Baton Rouge Parish officials can also keep track of which telephone numbers were not reached should follow up or additional assistance be required with a report on the results of outgoing messages that is sent to city-parish administrators immediately upon availability.
“With the Connect-CTY service, city administrators can target messages to groups for everything from mobilizing emergency response teams to notifying key department heads on our own staff,” said Joanne Moreau, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness of Baton Rouge. ”

Authorized officials also can use a map on the Connect-CTY system to contact specific geographical locations, sending messages only to select Baton Rouge communities or even neighborhoods. “

Source: Baton Rouge City Press Release

RIT Selects 3n for Campus-Wide Emergency Communication

2007-08-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Rochester Institute of Technology Enhances Campus Safety Initiatives with Mass Notification System

GLENDALE, Calif. and HENRIETTA, New York -–[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 15, 2007 – The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) selected 3n (National Notification Network), a global mass notification system provider, as its campus-wide emergency alert system to communicate with RIT’s students, faculty and staff instantly in any emergency.

“Safety and security at our university is of paramount importance,” said RIT President Bill Destler. “We are constantly vigilant about improving safety procedures and policies at RIT. Our community can be assured that we will use the 3n mass notification system and couple it with well-planned, tested, and reviewed continuity and contingency plans. The partnership with 3n adds additional effective communication channels in RIT’s layered approach to disseminate information.”

RIT will be working with 3n to quickly implement the 3n mass notification system campus-wide and anticipate it will be fully operational prior to the start of the Fall 2007 semester.

Villanova University Harnesses the Power of Roam Secure Alert Network for Emergency Notification

2007-08-14T00:01:00.002-07:00

RSAN Notifies University Community Instantly via Text, and Can Tap Into Five County Area Emergency Information Exchange

Arlington, VA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]--August 14, 2007 - Roam Secure, Inc. today, announced Villanova University purchased and deployed the Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN™). Nova Alert (https://alert.villanova.edu) will enable campus public safety and university officials, to send targeted alerts to its 10,000 students and faculty members. Parents of Villanova students can also sign up for the system, and receive real-time information during a major emergency or a routine incident.

Villanova University sits on more than 254 acres, and spans 60 buildings. With RSAN and advanced GIS mapping capabilities, the entire campus, or targeted areas both on and off campus can be notified in seconds. The system is capable of reaching any text-enabled device including cell phones, pagers, e-mail, Blackberry, instant messaging and other communication media. The system also provides two-way messaging capabilities. All messages are stored and presented in the web-based application via the AlertTracker or to the field via a mobile device, creating an easy to view alert summary and audit trail.

"The Roam Secure Alert Network gives Villanova University the ability to instantly communicate emergency information to our on and off campus constituents,” said Stephen Fugale, Villanova University’s Chief Information Officer. “Even before the Virginia Tech tragedy, Villanova had been researching text messaging systems in an effort to expand our communications platforms for students, parents, faculty, and staff. We chose Roam Secure based on their superior technology, streamlined implementation plan, and the ability to tie the system into other RSAN systems across the greater Philadelphia area.”

Roam Secure supports more than 130 RSAN systems across the country at local, state and federal government agencies, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, airports, refineries and other key businesses for routine and emergency communication. The Roam Secure Information Exchange (RSIX) enables Villanova University to securely connect with other RSAN systems in five major metropolitan areas, including the City of Philadelphia and five county surrounding area. Using RSIX, Villanova’s alerting and information sharing system can also share information with other RSAN systems across the country in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Colorado and California. Each Roam Secure customer can join the growing national emergency information exchange and share unlimited private and public all hazards emergency information regionally, statewide and nationally at no extra charge.

“Villanova University chose to join the RSAN platform deployed across the City of Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery and Gloucester Counties in the region. This gives the University the leading and proven text-based alerting technology, and a truly interoperable emergency information sharing system that serves the students, faculty, parents, and campus security at Villanova University,” said David Drescher, CEO of Roam Secure. ”We welcome Villanova to the growing base of higher education customers to be part of the Roam Secure Alert Network and the national emergency information sharing exchange.”

About Villanova University
Villanova University is a co-educational Roman Catholic institution that welcomes students of all faiths. Villanova was founded in 1842 by the friars of the Order of St. Augustine and offers a wide variety of degree programs through four main colleges – the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, and the College of Nursing – and a School of Law.

Robert Morris University and Send Word Now Partner to Offer Emergency Notification Service for Campus Community

2007-08-14T00:01:00.001-07:00

New “RMU Alert” system allows students, faculty and staff to receive instant text or voice messages during weather-related, other emergencies

NEW YORK, NY --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 14, 2007. Send Word Now, a provider of on-demand alerting and response services, today announced that it is partnering with Robert Morris University (RMU) to enhance the University’s emergency preparedness and campus security through the introduction of its SWN Alert Service beginning in the 2007-08 academic year. The multi-modal alert and response service, known as RMU Alert, will allow the University’s 6,000 students, faculty and staff to receive rapid communications during situations such as power outages, weather emergencies, or other time-sensitive situations, as well as to respond to alerts if required.

“Robert Morris University is pleased to partner with Send Word Now in offering the RMU Alert service, which will support multiple modes of communication with our campus community,” said Ellen Wieckowski, chief information officer for Robert Morris University. “After this spring’s incident at Virginia Tech, institutions nationwide recognized the importance of being able to reach individual students, faculty and staff instantaneously; we believe that Send Word Now’s ability to contact people through various modes - high-priority texting, as well as voice and email – will allow RMU to accomplish just that, if and when needed. Because the service allows each subscriber to specify up to six contact points, the University feels confident that at least one of our communications will reach individuals, regardless of whether they are on or off campus at the time.”

Many colleges and universities are putting a new focus on leveraging the new technology to reach students promptly– with the communication devices and modes that are most familiar to them. The SWN Alert Service uses multiple modes of communication - including text messaging, telephones, mobile phones, email, pagers, Blackberries, Treos and other PDAs – to deliver alerts within minutes of a message being sent. Campus police, security personnel or administrators can initiate an alert from the web, phone, email or internal information system application. The two-way alert and response service that Send Word Now is providing to RMU is also designed to enable real-time response to voice and text alerts, allowing message senders to verify and track whether a response was made.

About Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University, founded in 1921, is a private, four year institution with an enrollment of approximately 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The University offers 30 undergraduate programs and 19 masters and doctoral degree programs. An estimated 22,000 alumni live and work in western Pennsylvania.

Honeywell Upgrades Emergency Notification System for Bridgewater State College

2007-08-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Web-based Notification Service Gives College Fast, Reliable Way to Reach Students, Faculty and Staff

MINNEAPOLIS --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 14, 2007 - Honeywell today announced that Bridgewater State College in southeast Massachusetts has selected Instant Alert® Plus to deliver critical news and direction to students, faculty and staff in an emergency.

A new, Web-based notification service, Instant Alert Plus gives administrators the ability to reach people on and off campus with a clear, consistent message. The service broadcasts information to any communications device -- phone, cell phone, pager, email or PDA. It can send 100,000 30-second phone calls and 125,000 text messages in 15 minutes.

"Our staff and students prefer to receive information in different ways to suit their lifestyles and preferences," said Pat Cronin, associate vice president, Department of Technology, Systems and Networking, Bridgewater State College. "It may be easier to reach students with a text message, while a phone call may be more effective for faculty. Instant Alert Plus allows us to immediately reach people in whatever way they choose."

Recognized as a leader in adopting new, innovative technology, Bridgewater State College currently uses two Web sites to alert the media, students, faculty and staff of any emergency situations -- its main Web site and a special emergency notification site housed off campus and updated by administrators. The college decided it needed a more proactive and effective emergency notification system, particularly for pandemic planning purposes.

In the event of a pandemic or other crisis, Bridgewater State can now reach its key publics quickly and directly. To activate an alert, administrators only need to place a phone call or type a message on a computer with an Internet connection. In addition, the college can pre-record messages as part of its emergency planning, which allows an almost immediate response in a variety of situations.

Instant Alert Plus uses a series of distributed, redundant call center networks to disseminate information. As a result, it is one of the most reliable means of emergency communication. And along with broadcasting news, the service can send customized messages to an unlimited number of subgroups, such as emergency responders or the board of trustees. The real-time reporting feature provides college personnel easy-to-read, Web-based reports that show who has and has not received a particular alert.

The service also has a two-way communication function that allows the college to poll and get feedback from employees or students. Other features include the ability to automatically bridge message recipients into a conference call, and send attachments with text-based messages to provide more detailed information and instructions.

"Time is the enemy in a crisis so getting accurate information to people fast is crucial," said Mike Taylor, vice president of Americas marketing for Honeywell Building Solutions. "Instant Alert Plus delivers a consistent message with a definitive course of action in minutes. The service helps users like Bridgewater State College manage the situation instead of the phone lines."

Created for municipalities, colleges and universities, and healthcare and industrial facilities, Instant Alert Plus is an extension of Instant Alert for Schools, a notification service that helps K-12 school districts improve communication and emergency preparedness. More than 1,500 schools nationwide use Instant Alert to connect with parents and guardians.

For more information about Honeywell Instant Alert Plus, call 800-345-6770 ext. 601 or visit www.honeywell.com/instantalert.

e2Campus Version 2.4 Now Calls Traditional Wired Phones, Satellite Phones, Mobile Phones, and VoIP Phones

2007-08-13T00:01:00.001-07:00

The new enhancements include message confirmation and more automated tools

RICHMOND, Va., --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Aug. 13, 2007- From the Governor's Campus Security Conference, Omnilert(TM), LLC, maker of an emergency notification system for higher education called e2Campus(TM), today announced the release of e2Campus version 2.4. A major new enhancement to the service includes the ability for the system to call phones and broadcast a message that recipients can listen to and reply with confirmation that the message was received.

This new version will enable a greater broadcast of time-sensitive communication to reach ALL students, faculty and staff whether they are in class, at home, or at their office desk.

Now any authorized campus official can conveniently push an urgent message to the campus Web site, to all digital visual displays, alert beacons, and loudspeakers around campus, and to the phones, mobile phones, email accounts, and RSS readers of the entire campus community.

As a hosted solution or Software as a Service (SaaS), e2Campus 2.4 is available immediately. All institutions purchasing the new e2Campus Voice service must also have e2Campus Text service. The e2Campus Text service costs about $1 per user per year, depending on the total number of recipients to be covered. e2Campus Voice service plans start at $841 per year.

Adelphi University Selects MessageOne To Expand Its Communications Capabilities

2007-08-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Garden City, NY -- [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS] -- August 13, 2007 -As part of an effort to broaden its emergency notification and crisis communication channels, Adelphi University recently partnered with MessageOne. Adelphi will use MessageOne’s AlertFind emergency notification system to instantly broadcast urgent messages and deliver instructions to the campus community.

With MessageOne’s AlertFind service, Adelphi will be able to send notifications to students and staff using their preferred communications channels, including text or voice messages to a cell phone, home phone, and/or email. The system also allows for two-way communication, so that users can respond with any updates or requested information. AlertFind, which can tell the difference between a real person and voice mail, is able to deliver a spoken electronic or recorded message.

Students and staff will be able to update and customize their contact information via Adelphi’s eCampus Web portal.

To learn more about Adelphi University, visit www.adelphi.edu.

About Adelphi University

Adelphi University, chartered in 1896, was the first institution of higher education for the liberal arts and sciences on Long Island. Through its schools and programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, the Honors College, the Adelphi University Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, and the Schools of Business, Nursing, and Social Work—the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls more than 8,300 students from 40 states and 50 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.

Biola University Expands Use of 3n InstaCom Campus Alert Solution to Ensure Campus-Wide Safety

2007-08-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Southern California University Implements 3n Solution for Emergency Communication with Students, Faculty and Administration

GLENDALE, Calif. --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 8, 2007 – 3n (National Notification Network), a mass notification system provider, today announced that Biola University has expanded its use of 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert solution to automate emergency communications with students, faculty and administration. The University, which has been successfully using the 3n system for the past year to enhance its IT alerting capabilities during technology disruptions, recently decided to expand its use to notify the entire campus during emergencies or other critical incidents.

Founded in 1908, Biola University has more than 5,500 students enrolled in seven different schools. The University identified several key criteria in its notification system selection process: ease of use; ability to integrate with existing systems; guaranteed infrastructure security and reliability; and ability to address challenges specific to a campus environment, including delivering messages using student-friendly contact paths, such as instant messaging and true 2-way SMS text messaging.

Prior to selecting 3n, Biola relied upon a laborious calling list process that required the message initiator to manually call each phone number or pager number in an effort to contact each message recipient. The process was time consuming and delivered inconsistent results. Using 3n’s InstaCom Campus Alert system, Biola University will be able to communicate quickly and reliably in any crisis with all constituent audiences–students, faculty and administration–wherever they are located and independent of which communication devices they are using. The 3n system notifies message recipients via standard modes of communication, including phone, email, text messaging, instant messaging, pager, fax, and BlackBerry® devices.

“The Virginia Tech tragedy underscored the need for colleges and universities to adopt a crisis communication solution that speaks the language of students, and that means being able to communicate rapidly across newer technologies popular with students, such as instant messaging and native text messaging,” said Cinta Putra, CEO and co-founder of 3n. “As colleges and universities analyze how best to contact students, faculty and administrators in and outside of class during a crisis, they are finding that systems unable to leverage these critical communication paths represent a serious limitation in their emergency communication capabilities. ”

About Biola University
Biola University, founded in 1908, is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “National University,” which they consider the “major leagues” of higher education. Biola offers 145 academic programs through its six schools, ranging from the B.A. to the Ph.D. As a theologically conservative, Protestant university, Biola provides Evangelical students with biblically centered education, equipping them in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ in any professional setting. In 2003, Biola launched a new vision to be a global center for Christian thought and spiritual renewal, addressing the crucial cultural issues of our day. For more information, visit www.biola.edu.

Amcom Software Adds New Answering Service™ Module

2007-08-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Message-taking and call management application can transform a call center from cost center to profit center

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – August 6, 2007 – Amcom Software, a provider of mission critical communication software for hospitals, today announced the release and general availability of its Answering Service™ module – an add-on to its Smart Console intelligent workstation and on-call scheduling system. The optional Answering Service module provides full-featured case management, message-taking and reporting and can be used for managing outsourced answering services by linking into an optional billing application.

“Many customers are choosing to extend their call centers to handle call management and after hours answering services for other organizations,” said Chris Heim, CEO of Amcom Software. “It makes great sense to leverage both existing infrastructure and personnel to transform a cost center into a profit center. With this new product, customers can easily automate message taking, track cases and manage billing processes.”

The Answering Service product integrates with the central Amcom Software database and automates message storage, record keeping and answering service functions. As a result, customers can eliminate errors, reduce training time, improve customer satisfaction and more efficiently monitor and track case management.

Mollie Burrows, Call Center Director for Emory Healthcare and a beta user of the product said, “We had 26 call center operators manually handling answering services for 800 physicians.

Reliant largely upon paper-based processes, it’s no wonder our message tracking and reporting capabilities were disjointed and inefficient. With the Answering Service in place, we are leaps ahead in terms of quality control and process improvement.”

Amcom Software’s Answering Service enables the following functions:

Group messages, pages, call activity and services provided into a unified service case file that can be opened, closed, tracked and centrally stored
Facilitate answering services and screen initiation (i.e. screen pop) for multiple clients, and track all contact attempts for each case
View flexible reporting, monitoring, measuring and reporting calls by type
Assign cases to individually responsible operators and agents
Enable entry of caller information, remarks and notes for each case event along with rule entry, call handling parameters and exception handling procedures
Track, manage, report and bill clients for services based on real-time case files
Automate paging, messaging and communication with specific contacts
“Ultimately, we’re in the business of listening to our customers and creating mission critical communications solutions that automate processes and improve efficiencies,” said Chris Heim, CEO for Amcom Software. “Answering Service is a great example of what can be achieved through partnership and collaboration with our customers.”
The Answering Service product is available now. For more information, including pricing, contact sales@amcomsoft.com or call 888-337-9274.

Middlebury College Selects MessageOne For Emergency Notification System

2007-08-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Austin, TX --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 6, 2007 – MessageOne today announced that Middlebury College administrators have selected MessageOne’s AlertFind to provide an automated emergency notification system that can be used to send simultaneous alerts to thousands of students, faculty and staff within minutes. Middlebury is planning to implement the system during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Emergency communications is a key challenge facing college and university leaders. Operating numerous buildings populated by hundreds of faculty, staff, and students makes running a college akin to overseeing a small town. Located in Vermont, Middlebury also operates the C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad at 28 sites in 12 countries. With students, faculty and staff in Middlebury and spread around the world, it would be very difficult to deliver emergency instructions or account for college community members in the event of a crisis or disaster.

Once the new system is implemented, Middlebury will be able to rapidly and automatically communicate with faculty, staff and students in the event of any crisis or disaster. Administrators will no longer have to distribute critical messages manually through a broadcast e-mail or voice mail. When an incident occurs, Middlebury crisis managers will be able to quickly and automatically send important notifications to affected community members. As long as the recipient has access to a landline, text messaging device, cell phone or email, they can receive an emergency notification anywhere around the world. The system, which can differentiate between a real person and voice mail, is able to deliver a spoken electronic or recorded message and even ask questions such as “Are you okay?” in the event of a crisis. These responses will be available to crisis managers in real-time.

AlertFind will allow Middlebury administrators to make all users or a select group of users immediately aware of public safety warnings, provide up-to-date inclement weather advisories, or disseminate information on issues in foreign countries potentially affecting students or faculty abroad.

Dedicated System for Emergency Broadcasts Needed
Unlike free text message systems backed by advertising dollars, AlertFind is a dedicated, robust solution for text and voice-based emergency communication. Since the system is only used in emergencies, AlertFind prevents the “message fatigue” associated with ad-based systems where users may ignore important notifications, assuming they are spam.

“We want to be proactive in ensuring the safety of the college community and this system provides one step we can take towards that goal,” said Middlebury College Dean of Planning John Emerson, who is a co-chair of the college’s emergency planning steering committee.

GSS and 3n Announce Groundbreaking Emergency Communication Partnership

2007-08-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Companies to integrate GSS's FM broadcasting capabilities with 3n's multi-channel notification system

Jackson, Miss. --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Aug. 2, 2007 – Global Security Systems (GSS) and 3n (National Notification Network), a mass notification system provider, announced today a partnership to integrate 3n's mass notification solution with GSS's pioneering ALERT FM, an FM-based digital alert and messaging system. The combination of these two technologies will, for the first time, provide state and local government agencies with a one-stop solution for their community emergency notification needs.

“Our partnership with 3n is a win-win for those managing the dissemination of critical information,” said Bobby Adams, GSS president and CEO. “ALERT FM’s personal alert and messaging brings Radio Data System (RDS) technology to the table along with the reliability and redundancy that comes with the use of a pre-existing network of FM towers. By partnering with 3n, ALERT FM adds a robust communication channel to the mix while being able to operate on a much broader scale.”

ALERT FM incorporates Radio Data System (RDS) technology to send digital information using conventional FM radio infrastructure. Targeted alerts and messages are delivered by satellite to FM transmission towers and can be received on ALERT FM receivers and other mobile devices, including PDAs, cell phones and other specialized receivers equipped with FM chips.

Customers of the joint GSS and 3n solution will also be able to receive timely weather alerts and updates through a direct feed from the NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration), providing valuable weather- and emergency-related information necessary to deal with any natural disaster.

About Global Security Systems, LLC and ALERT FM
Global Security Systems (GSS) is a systems integrator, service provider and manufacturer of homeland security and natural disaster ALERT FM systems. The company has its headquarters in Jackson, Miss. with offices in Louisiana, Florida, and Washington, D.C. ALERT FM is a personal alert and messaging system that enables state and local government and private sector officials to create and send digital alerts and messages. Potential messages include tornado warnings, homeland security notices, hurricane evacuation instructions, utility notices, plant or school closings, employee notifications and traffic alerts. First responders, school officials and citizens can receive these alerts and messages based on geographic or organizational groupings through specially designed ALERT FM receivers or any device equipped with a standard FM chip. For more information log on to www.alertfm.com.

e2Campus and Exhibio Link Up to Offer Emergency Alerts to Digital Signage

2007-07-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, DC --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- July 31, 2007 – From the Campus Technology 2007 Conference, Omnilert™, LLC, maker of a mass notification system for higher education called e2Campus™, today announced that their e2Campus technology will seamlessly transmit urgent messages to Exhibio™ digital signage systems. This will enable a larger broadcast of time-sensitive communication to reach all visitors, students, faculty and staff. With a single click of a button, any authorized campus official can conveniently push an urgent message to the campus Web site, to all digital visual displays and alert beacons around campus, and to the mobile phones, email accounts, and RSS readers of the entire campus community.

This mass notification delivery method is available today for purchase and implementation. Current e2Campus customers should contact Exhibio for details to install a digital signage system on their campus. Current Exhibio customers should contact OmniLert to learn how they can setup a mass notification in less than an hour.

About Exhibio
Established in 1995, Exhibio, LLC specializes in developing digital signage and content management systems that are Web-accessible, reliable and incredibly easy to use. They offer solutions to create, integrate and schedule content on plasma, LCD or other displays. Each unit has an intuitive visual interface, exclusive to Exhibio, which enables users to easily create customized mixed-media displays. The company’s patent-pending digital display systems can be updated from anywhere on the Internet using a Web browser. Exhibio’s digital signage systems are being used by hundreds of corporations, universities and government institutions for a wide variety of public and private applications. The privately held company is headquartered in Buffalo, NY and online at www.exhibio.com.

e2Campus Partners with Alertus Technologies to Offer Emergency Notifications to Radio Controlled Alert Beacons

2007-07-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Latest technology empowers colleges and universities to easily push urgent news to mobile recipients and fixed high-traffic areas around campus

HOLLYWOOD, FL --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- July 30, 2007 – From the ACUTA 36th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Omnilert™, LLC, maker a mass notification system for higher education called e2Campus™, today announced that their e2Campus technology will simultaneously broadcast urgent messages to radio controlled Alertus Notification Beacons. This will enable a wider transmission of time-sensitive mass communication to reach all visitors, students, faculty, and staff in campus buildings. Through a centralized interface, any authorized campus official can conveniently push an urgent message to the campus Web site, to Alertus Notification Beacons and digital signage systems around campus, and to the mobile phones, email accounts, and RSS readers of the entire campus community.

This new mass notification delivery method is available today for purchase and implementation. Current e2Campus customers should contact Alertus Technologies for details to install alert beacons on their campus. Current Alertus Technologies customers should contact Omnilert to learn how they can setup a mass notification in less than an hour.

About Alertus Technologies
Alertus Technologies, LLC helps campuses solve the emergency response challenge of notifying thousands of students and staff occupying dozens or hundreds of buildings of a threat or crisis. The Alertus solution is a simple, easy to use, essential tool for instantly communicating with your campus community in any emergency – violent acts/terrorism, natural disasters, hazardous materials incidents, and epidemics. In seconds, safety leaders can deliver a clear, informative message to all or a select group of areas, buildings, or corridors by activating wireless wall-mounted Alertus Notification Beacons. Alertus Technologies was established in 2002 after a tornado ravaged the University of Maryland campus killing two students and threatening thousands of other students and staff. To learn more, visit http://www.AlertusTech.com.

Source: Vendor Press Release

Partnership Integrates Send Word Now Services with iJET’s Worldcue® Global Control Center

2007-07-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Integrated solution provides on-demand two-way notification and response worldwide

ANNAPOLIS, MD --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- July 23, 2007. iJET Intelligent Risk Systems, a provider of global intelligence, business resilience technology and integrated emergency response services, today announced a partnership with Send Word Now, a provider of on-demand alerting and response services. Through this partnership, iJET clients will benefit from enhanced capabilities for communicating with traveling employees, expatriates and emergency response teams in any part of the world using multiple devices, at a moment’s notice.

Send Word Now alert services are now directly accessible from iJET’s Worldcue® Global Control Center, enabling joint clients to monitor threats to their people and assets as well as send two-way urgent notifications from a single portal platform.

“The global scope of our operations requires actionable intelligence, asset tracking capabilities and reliable emergency communication,” said Mark Cheviron, Corporate Vice President of Security and Services at Archer Daniels Midland. “We appreciate the convenience of accessing Send Word Now and Worldcue Global Control Center through a single platform, saving us valuable time in responding to urgent situations.”

“Business exposure goes well beyond security and health concerns in one region, extending instead to a range of threats around the world,” said Tom Shoemaker, CEO of Send Word Now. “iJet and SWN customers can now send two-way alerts using both voice and text to quickly communicate with personnel at risk and require a response to rapidly assess the situation in real-time.”

Worldcue Global Control Center provides corporate and government organization users with timely, predictive intelligence around operational threats, a unified view of their people and assets around the globe, immediate access to key employee and asset information and integrated communication capabilities and coordination. The system offers corporate users a single platform for immediately relating threats to travelers and assets and initiating the most appropriate notifications and responses.

“Business resiliency calls for organizations to establish systems for effectively avoiding and responding to a range of operational disruptions around the world,” said Marty Pfinsgraff, COO of iJET. “Integrating Worldcue and Send Word Now helps to fulfill the emergency communication needs of our clients.”

About iJet Intelligent Risk Systems
iJET Intelligent Risk Systems provides operational risk management, helping multinational corporations and government organizations monitor, protect against and respond to global threats. iJET’s Worldcue® solutions help clients monitor and assess global threats relative to their key people, facilities and supply chain assets; track and communicate with travelers and expatriates; and deploy emergency response services throughout the world. Providing a unified view of threats to assets, iJET enables clients to mitigate risks, reduce corporate liability and prepare for and respond to crises. For more information about iJET, please visit www.iJet.com

Source: Vendor Press Release

OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center Selects the 3n Mass Notification System

2007-07-18T00:01:00.001-07:00

GLENDALE, CA –-[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- July 18, 2007 – 3n (National Notification Network), a mass notification system provider, announced OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center has selected 3n's InstaCom Hospitals system to automate emergency staff call-ins in the Emergency Department and Operating Room and for organization-wide crisis communications with employees during a disaster.

Prior to selecting 3n, OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center relied on departmental call trees to disseminate information to its employees. As a result, determining personnel availability was a lengthy process and teams outside of the Emergency Department and Operating Room often were not notified or did not receive the most up-to-date instructions.

Adopting the 3n system, which was purchased with a government grant, will enable OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center and other member hospitals in Illinois's EMS Region 1 to efficiently and effectively address emergencies that call for rapid, large-scale communications. Employees of the member health care systems can be reached in critical and time-sensitive situations using a wide range of communication devices.

About OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center
OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center is an acute care facility in the OSF HealthCare system. OSF HealthCare, owned and operated by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, Peoria, Illinois, includes OSF Healthcare System consisting of six acute care facilities, one long-term care facility and two colleges of nursing. It also has a primary care physician network consisting of 194 physicians and 48 mid-level providers, known as OSF Medical Group. OSF HealthCare owns OSF Saint Francis, Inc., comprised of healthcare-related businesses, and OSF Healthcare Foundation, the philanthropic arm of OSF Healthcare System and OSF Home Care. Additionally, OSF HealthPlans, Inc., a subsidiary of OSF Saint Francis, Inc., is a licensed managed care company in the State of Illinois with about 100,000 members.

Source: Vendor Press Release

MIR3 Intelligent Notification to Provide OEM Emergency Notifications for COOP Systems

2007-07-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO, CA [EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- July 18, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, has signed an OEM agreement with COOP Systems, a leading provider of software and services for continuity planning in the public and private sector. COOP Systems’ myCOOP™ product is a next-generation Business Continuity Management (BCM) software package, designed to support distributed and global BCM programs.

When combined with the MIR3 global enterprise communication infrastructure, COOP Systems will be able to provide a powerful, seamless, real-time solution that quickly and effectively sends alerts and gathers responses when a critical BCM event occurs. “Adding the functionality of MIR3’s Intelligent Notification solution, coupled with its global infrastructure, enables us to deliver a superior product with fault tolerant communications,” said Chris Alvord, chief executive officer of COOP Systems. “We are pleased to partner with a market leader as strong and innovative as COOP Systems,” said Dan Long, chief technology officer at MIR3. “We are confident that the addition of the multimodal two-way communication system will benefit COOP Systems’ clients.”

MIR3’s inWebServices™ product allows OEM partners to tightly integrate the MIR3 communication engine into their applications and infrastructure. It is built on enterprise-grade technology that bridges the gap between all standard forms of communication to enable high-speed two-way communications to tens of thousands of users and devices across all modalities, including email, wireless pager, PDA, landline, mobile phone, satellite phone, TDD/TTY, fax and two-way SMS. MIR3's notification capabilities can also be used for routine high-volume MIR3 to Provide OEM Emergency Notifications for COOP Systems messaging and all-purpose broadcasting such as administrative notices to employees, messages for coordinating staffing and schedules, and delivering important, auditable information to customers.

Source: Vendor Press Release

DCC (Dialogic Communications Corp.), a PlantCML company, Launches New Version of Emergency Notification Software

2007-06-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Franklin, TN --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- June 21, 2007 - DCC (Dialogic Communications Corp.), a PlantCML company, today announced Communicator! NXT 4.0, the latest version of its emergency notification solution.

Communicator! NXT is a web-based emergency notification application that requires an Internet connection and Microsoft® Internet Explorer web browser for its use. Users are able to manage contact lists (databases), prepare text and voice messages and activate event-specific scenarios for emergency and/or routine situations. Reports, capturing the results of the entire notification effort, are available in industry-standard .pdf or .xls formats, and are accessible online or in hardcopy (print or email).

“DCC remains committed to developing and supporting innovative solutions that meet the emergency notification demands of the marketplace,” said Scott Alfieri, Division Vice President. “In listening to our customers’ needs and building on an already successful product, we are only empowering them to better communicate with – and more importantly secure the safety of – their community, employees and more.”

Virginia Tech Agreement with 3n Expands Campus Emergency Notification System

2007-06-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

BLACKSBURG, Va., --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- June 21, 2007 -- Virginia Tech has reached an agreement with 3n (National Notification Network) that will significantly expand the university's ability to send critical news and information to the university community during campus emergencies.

The new emergency notification system, along with existing communications vehicles long used by the university, will form the basis of “VT Alerts,” a fully integrated and coordinated emergency communications program maintained by Virginia Tech’s Office of University Relations.

The expanded VT Alerts system will debut July 2; students, faculty, and staff will be able to sign up for several new 3n-enabled emergency notification options beginning that day. The expanded VT Alerts system will be fully operational by Aug. 20, the first day of fall classes.

3n's technology will enable the university to send messages to students, faculty, and staff using methods and media not maintained by the university, such as text messages to personal cell phones, instant messages via systems maintained by America Online (AOL), Yahoo, or MSN, and phone calls and e-mails to numbers and mailboxes that reside outside the university's network.

In addition, the system will allow subscribers to list contacts for parents, spouses, or other individuals among their contact preferences.

Currently, the university has several communications tools to reach students, faculty, and staff, including the heavily used university homepage, the Virginia Tech News website, broadcast e-mail alerts, broadcast voice-mail messages, a recorded emergency hotline (231-6668), the university switchboard, and a coordinated use of public media outlets.

"We began the process of adding to and enhancing our already robust emergency notification system last fall, and we were in the final stages of selecting a vendor when the tragic events of April 16 occurred,” said Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations. “The 3n InstaCom Campus Alert system is a sophisticated tool that is easy to use. I believe it can only further benefit our students, faculty, and staff.”

About Virginaia Tech
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.

Siemens and AtHoc, Inc., Partner to Deliver Emergency Network-Notification to First Responders and the Military

2007-06-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Partnership adds emergency network-notification to Siemens HiPath Dispatch command and control console, extends Open Communications to public sector and military emergency responders

BOCA RATON, Fla. (June 18, 2007) --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- Siemens Communications, Inc.,[NYSE: SI] and AtHoc, Inc., a provider of network-centric (notifications delivered to computers/PDA's connected via WAN/LAN) emergency notification systems, today announced a partnership to integrate AtHoc's IWSAlerts™ into Siemens' HiPath Dispatch command and control console. The new partnership extends Siemens Open Communications to federal, state, local and tribal public safety responders, K-12 and higher education, and the military. The partnership enables first responders and the military to save more lives and property through improved communications coordination and interoperability.

HiPath Dispatch operators can send alerts through IWSAlerts at the touch of a button on their consoles. The HiPath Dispatch console enables command center and emergency operations center personnel to communicate with virtually any communications device anywhere, anytime through an IP network.

"Failures in emergency communications systems have exacerbated every major disaster of the last decade," said Charles Jennings, Chairman of Regional Alliances for Infrastructure and Network Security (RAINS), a nonprofit public-private alliance dedicated to developing and deploying Internet-based homeland security systems. "Internet-based systems-which offer increased survivability, greater flexibility and inherent interoperability-are the clear solution. Industry partnerships such as Siemens' and AtHoc's are essential to deliver the next-generation emergency communications capability that our country urgently needs."

"Siemens' commitment to improving public safety and military communications is based on meeting public safety organizations' and the military's needs, not just technology, and applying technology to best serve the public good," said Mike Lewis, Vice President of Federal Solutions at Siemens Communications. "This is our key role, to understand our customers' business and become their trusted partner and advisor. With technology as an enabler, we help our government, military, business and educational partners operate more easily and effectively during a crisis, when every moment counts."

About Siemens Communications, Inc.
Siemens Communications, Inc. is one of the world's leading vendors of Open Communications solutions for enterprises of all sizes, enabling business processes to be more productive, faster and more secure - with any device, network or information technology infrastructure. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG with about 15,000 employees globally and headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla.

For more information, please visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/communications.

Source: Vendor Press Release

UCLA extends Automated Communication for Emergencies, Patient Care and Employee Availability

2007-06-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

Automated Mission Critical Communications Improve Reliability

Minneapolis, MN --[Emergency Notification News]-- June 12, 2007 – Amcom Software announced today that one of the highest ranking hospitals in the country has selected its products to improve call center performance and reliability. Rated among the top five in “America’s Best Hospitals” report published annually hospitals by US News and World Report magazine, the University of California Los Angles (UCLA), attributes Amcom Software's mission critical communication solutions as a key factor in improving patient safety. Benefits include improvements in operator performance, service, reliability and emergency response.

UCLA recently completed the roll-out of Amcom’s entire product suite within a very short time frame. With the launch of Amcom’s Smart Web, the entire UCLA medical staff will have direct access to personnel information and on-call schedules as well as the ability to update status changes and exceptions of availability.

“By extending critical information to the web, we’ve been able to alleviate critical bottlenecks in our call centers while giving our entire staff access to real-time critical information,” said Sergio Gallegos, Communications Director from UCLA. “As a result, we have significantly reduced the total number of calls processed and decreased our physical labor hours as much as 400 hours per month, equating to about $85,000 a year.”

University of California Los Angeles
Since opening its doors in 1955, UCLA Medical Center has consistently been a healthcare innovator and has been ranked number one in the West by U.S. News and World Report’s annual survey of "America's Best Hospitals" for 17 years in a row. More than 300,000 people from Los Angeles, from across the country, and from around the world come to UCLA Medical Center each year to receive care from some of the world’s best healthcare providers. More than 120 UCLA physicians are cited in The Best Doctors in America, which is based on an extensive poll of thousands of medical specialists.

Source: Vendor Press Release

University of California San Diego (UCSD) Selects MIR3 Intelligent Notification for Student and Staff Emergency Notification and Alerting

2007-06-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO, CA--[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- June 7, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, today announced UCSD was added to a long list of universities to take advantage of the special pricing for inCampusAlert™.

Designed to make critical emergency and non-emergency communications of colleges and universities private, more efficient and cost effective, MIR3’s Intelligent Notification v2.8 can easily handle the requirements of student and staff groups of any magnitude. “We are confident of our ability to deal with the notification requirements of any university or college,” said Dan Long, CTO at MIR3.

“We can bring a college campus on-line in less than a day.” MIR3’s new product, inCampusAlert, has the same enterprise-grade technology that bridges the gap between all standard forms of communication to enable high-speed two-way communications to tens of thousands of users and devices across all modalities, including email, wireless pager, PDA, landline, mobile phone, satellite phone, TDD/TTY, fax and two-way SMS. MIR3's notification capabilities can also be used for routine high-volume messaging and all-purpose broadcasting such as administrative notices to employees, messages for coordinating staffing and schedules, and delivering important, auditable information to customers.

Air Force Air University and Air War College Deploy AtHoc’s Net-centric Emergency Notification System

2007-06-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

When Emergencies Occur, Faculty and Students Receive Emergency Alerts through Computers, Cell Phones and PDAs

Burlingame, CA. (June 4, 2007) --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- AtHoc, Inc. today announced the U.S. Air Force Air University and Air War College has deployed AtHoc IWSAlerts™ for use on campus at Maxwell Air Force Base for emergency alerting. The university and college are part of the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command.

Air University provides the full spectrum of Air Force education, from pre-commissioning to the highest levels of professional military education, including granting degrees and professional continuing education for officers, enlisted and civilian personnel throughout their careers. As part of Air University, Air War College is the senior professional school of the U.S. Air Force. The program is open to lieutenant colonels and colonels or equivalent in Navy rank or civil service grade.

In addition to educating, the Air University and Air War College are responsible for protecting faculty and students, and to that end, they have deployed AtHoc IWSAlerts to quickly reach everyone if there is an emergency that impacts the entire facility or a smaller group within the campus. The educational facilities can quickly alert staff and students via the network to desktops and laptops with a pop up alert and an accompanying audio alarm.

AtHoc IWSAlerts is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software product that uses a campus’ existing network infrastructure, including wireless hotspots and computer kiosks in rooms and buildings, to achieve mass reach about threats and account for personnel safety. IWSAlerts turns existing connected devices into personal alarm systems. Audio/visual desktop alerts will instantly appear on all PCs, and every handheld device will receive text messages. IWSAlerts can also integrate with existing telephony alerting systems and public address systems to provide a single point of activation to all alerting channels.

“In the past couple of months, there has been an increased emphasis on campus security for obvious reasons,” commented Guy Miasnik, president and CEO for AtHoc. “The DoD has been actively pioneering the use of AtHoc’s system to transform network-connected devices into effective alerting platforms. All campuses and facilities can learn from the best practices derived from the Defense Department’s experiences.”

Send Word Now’s Alert and Response Service Chosen by BOMA/Chicago for Emergency Preparedness

2007-05-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Building Owners and Managers Association helps Chicago’s Commercial Buildings plan for Communication during a Crisis

New York, NY, --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- May 23, 2007 Send Word Now™ a provider of on-demand alerting and response services, today announced that it has been selected by The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Chicago to assist with the association’s emergency preparedness planning. BOMA/Chicago will make the multi-modal alert and response service available to its 800 members for rapid communication during a crisis, or for everyday, time-sensitive situations.

The City of Chicago and BOMA/Chicago announced today new and vital communications and logistics protocols in the event of a large scale emergency in the central business district. In a special forum on “Creating a Culture of Preparedness,” Chicago’s Chief Emergency Officer Cortez Trotter will unveil an After Action Report that will detail lessons learned from an evacuation exercise held last September and recommendations for enhanced preparedness and response by both the public and private sectors. One of the key findings unveiled in the City’s After Action Report includes the critical need for additional communications response tools that guarantee redundancy and enable the Office of Emergency Communications and Management (OEMC) and BOMA/Chicago to contact building managers, engineers and security directors in real time in the event of an emergency.

To that end, BOMA/Chicago will announce the acquisition and roll-out of the multi-modal alert and response service from Send Word Now. In addition to BOMA/Chicago now being able to communicate with all of its members through Send Word Now alerts, the SWN Alert Service will also be available to BOMA/Chicago members for use with their tenant communities at a special member discount.

“Send Word Now offers a vital alert and response service that will effectively help us to notify our member buildings should an emergency occur,” said Ronald Vukas, executive vice president, BOMA/Chicago.

About BOMA/Chicago
The Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago™ (BOMA/Chicago™) is the voice of the office building industry in Chicago, representing 270 buildings housing private, institutional and government/public uses in the City of Chicago and 150 companies that provide services to commercial office buildings. Now in its 105th year and the oldest BOMA Association in the world, BOMA/Chicago represents the interests of the people and companies that own, operate, manage and service Chicago’s commercial buildings. Learn more at: www.bomachi.com

Source: Vendor Press Release

Hawaii State Civil Defense Selects AtHoc to Create State-wide Emergency Alerting System

2007-05-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

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

PlantCML Acquires REVERSE 911(R)

2007-05-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Temecula, CA/Indianapolis, IN --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- May 14, 2007 - PlantCML, a mission-critical communications systems for emergency contact centers, announced today the acquisition of Sigma Communications, LLC, creator of REVERSE 911®, the country’s most recognized brand in emergency notification technology for emergency management, law enforcement, and other public safety agencies.

The acquisition adds another high-demand element to PlantCML’s portfolio of communications products, further solidifying its position as the nation’s top provider of response management solutions and emergency notification technology.

Tim Fuller, President and Chief Executive Officer of PlantCML, states, “Recent events in our country serve as powerful reminders of the need for fast and accurate communication in a crisis. Notification and response technologies are now an imperative for communities and organizations everywhere. With the acquisition of REVERSE 911®, no company is better positioned to deliver a complete critical communications solution.”

PlantCML continues to be backed by Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm with $3.3 billion of capital under management. “We are excited to support PlantCML as it continues its consolidation of the emergency response space,” said David Dominik, Managing Director at Golden Gate Capital. “The acquisition of REVERSE 911® adds yet another mission-critical public safety element to PlantCML’s core suite of solutions and services.”

“The REVERSE 911® trademark is synonymous with public safety notification across North America,” said Kevin McCarthy, President of REVERSE 911®. “Joining forces with PlantCML and its extensive customer base will allow for even greater corporate expansion and accelerated development in meeting the demands of today’s market.”

Existing agreements between each company, its customers, partners, and service providers will be honored. “It’s very much business as usual for customers, partners and others who have dealings with PlantCML and REVERSE 911®,” said Tim Fuller.

About REVERSE 911®
REVERSE 911® offers patented interactive technology that enables users to send recorded messages rapidly and simultaneously to thousands of people. Users can pinpoint precisely who receives the communication based on 9-1-1 calling data, geographic areas, or lists built on specific criteria. REVERSE 911® has proven useful for reporting missing persons, announcing water contaminations, or for distributing crime alerts. Today, REVERSE 911® is a leading technology for emergency management personnel, police departments, fire departments and other groups that recognize the critical importance of a fast, reliable communications tool during times of crisis.

About Golden Gate Capital:
Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with approximately 3.3 billion of capital under management. The firm is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams to invest in change-intensive, growth businesses. Golden Gate targets investments in situations where there is a demonstrable opportunity to significantly enhance a company's value. The principals of Golden Gate Capital have a long and successful history of investing with management partners across a wide rage of industries and transaction types. For more information, please visit www.goldengatecap.com.

Cistera Networks, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.021-07:00

Cistera Networks makes Application Driven Telephony a reality by setting the new standard in advanced IP phone application platforms and engines for the Enterprise VoIP Telephony environment. The Cistera ConvergenceServer(TM) (CCS) uses the industry-leading Cistera Enterprise Platform for IPT to provide Unified Application Administration as well as Fault and Performance Management for enterprise IPT Application deployments. Cistera provides next-generation solutions for numerous vertical markets including education, finance, healthcare and government. Cistera Networks maximizes IP phone capabilities -- taking the communications platform to an entirely new level.

Phone: (972) 381-4699 Toll Free: 1-866-XML-TOGO (965-8646)
Email: sales(at)cistera.com Web: Event Alerting and Notification Solutions

Workspeed Management, LLC.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.020-07:00

Workspeed Management, LLC. is the leading provider of Web-based and wireless applications that optimize real estate enterprise performance. Workspeed brings significant process improvements to property owners and managers by combining the benefits of workflow automation, collaboration, and wireless communication. As a result, customers gain unprecedented visibility and control of day-to-day building operations. Workspeed customers have experienced substantially increased revenues, decreased costs and reduced risk across the entire enterprise. The company is headquartered in New York City.

Workspeed and its new Notifications service work in tandem to comply with New York Local Law 26, which requires companies to account for their staff in an emergency evacuation and therefore aid the FDNY in rescue operations.

Tel: 917-369-9025 Fax: 917-369-9079
Web: http://www.workspeed.com email: sales(at)workspeed.com

RoamSecure, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.019-07:00

Every day government leaders, first responders, employees, students, parents and citizens in cities, counties, states, the federal government, colleges and universities and key businesses rely on Roam Secure’s solutions, including the company’s award winning patent pending Road Secure Alert Network (RSAN) and RSIX.

Phone: 703-294-6768 ext. 250 Toll Free: 877-459-7726
Web: http://www.roamsecure.net email: sales(at)roamsecure.net

AtHoc, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.018-07:00

AtHoc, Inc. provides enterprise-class, network-centric (notifications delivered to computers/PDA's connected via WAN/LAN) emergency notification systems used for force and personnel protection, facility mass notification, public safety and critical enterprise communications.

Organizations such as the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, the Air University, Hawaii State Civil Defense, Boeing, PricewaterhouseCoopers and eBay use AtHoc's alert delivery and management systems for critical communication and alerting needs. AtHoc has partnered with market leaders including Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, Siemens, Avaya, Unisys and others to bring these notification solutions to the public and commercial markets.

Phone: 650.685.3000 Fax: 650.685.3010
Email: sales(at)athoc.com Web: http://www.athoc.com

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FirstCall Interactive Network

2007-05-01T00:01:00.017-07:00

FirstCall Interactive Network has been a provider of nationwide emergency notification services since the founding of the company in 1997. Dedicated professionals, including an IAEM Certified Emergency Manager, have been involved in responding to many types of emergency situations, including natural disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Amber Alerts and other Missing Persons occurrences, hazardous material releases, and the explosion of Space Shuttle Columbia. Services include VPN access, which allows clients to manage their own messages and call lists, and Unlisted Number Registration, which allows clients to add any additional numbers, such as cell phones or VoIP phones, to their call lists at any time.

Phone: 800-653-9232 Fax: 225-295-8273
Web: http://www.firstcall.net email: sales(at)firstcall.net

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The NTI Group

2007-05-01T00:01:00.015-07:00

The NTI Group, Inc. (NTI), a Delaware corporation, is a privately held company that provides award winning communication systems designed specifically for local, regional, state, and Federal government entities. The Connect family of services enables rapid dissemination of critical information via voice and text devices using its premier mass notification engine designed to allow users to quickly and easily record and send time-based notifications to thousands of people in minutes using just a telephone. NTI makes and distributes the Connect-ED®, Connect-CTY®, Connect-GOV®, and Connect-MIL® systems, allowing users to target specific groups and/or geographic regions within their database(s) and engage recipients in two-way communication by asking them to respond to questions via their telephone keypads.

Toll Free: 877-684-4411
Email: sales(at)ntigroup.com Web: http://www.ntigroup.com

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Omnilert, LLC.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.014-07:00

Omnilert, LLC., a provider of selective mass communications for sending time-sensitive information to large groups of people. The system is built around a reliable SMS text messaging system that sends content directly to a mobile phone, traditional phone, e-mail address, Web page, RSS reader, digital sign, alert beacon, or loudspeaker. Omnilert solutions are sold under the names e2Campus, Amerilert, RainedOut and through resellers. The privately held company is headquartered in Leesburg, Va.

Phone: 800-936-3525 Fax: 206-338-5680
Website: http://www.omnilert.com email: info(at)omnilert.com.

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Dialog Communications Corp (DCC)

2007-05-01T00:01:00.013-07:00

DCC (Dialogic Communications Corporation), a PlantCML company, is a provider of emergency notification technology. The company’s on-site and hosted solutions are used by hundreds of public and private organizations everyday, ensuring their communications readiness for virtually any critical or routine situation. DCC was established in 1982, and is located in Franklin, TN (a suburb of Nashville).

Phone: 615.790.2882 Toll Free: 800.723.3207
Email: marketing(at)dccusa.com Web: http://www.dccusa.com

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PlantCML, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.012-07:00

PlantCML, Inc. is a provider of crisis communications and emergency response solutions and services. The company offers telecommunications functionality for mission-critical applications through flexible, scaleable E911 solutions covering wireless communications, Computer Telephony Integrated (CTI) workstations, Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Voice over IP (VoIP) and NG911 solutions, emergency notification and more.
Headquartered in Temecula, California, with operations in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada; Franklin, TN; and Huntsville, AL; PlantCML develops, manufactures, integrates and supports solutions for the critical call center environment. The company serves both the public safety and private security sectors, including federal agencies, transportation and utilities.

For company contact information, please refer here.

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Varolii Corporation

2007-05-01T00:01:00.011-07:00

Seattle-based Varolii Corporation (formerly PAR3 Communications and EnvoyWorldWide) is a provider of on-demand interactive communication solutions. Enterprises across industries leverage these solutions to automate more of the communications process, resulting in improved operational performance and enhanced customer relationships. Varolii’s multi-channel solutions deliver ongoing value based on its unique delivery model, which combines the convenience of SaaS with a fully managed services environment, an approach that ensures clients achieve an immediate, sustainable ROI. Varolii is headquartered in Seattle, WA with offices and data centers in Denver, CO; Chicago, IL; and Boston, MA.

Web: http:// www.varolii.com - Business Continuity Notification.

Strohl Systems®

2007-05-01T00:01:00.010-07:00

Strohl Systems® delivers the expertise and resources to help organizations build plans, practice for disruptions and prevail over disasters. Services include NotiFind®, powered by Varolii, an emergency notification system. In business since 1968, Strohl Systems is a privately held company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa., and can be found on the Web at www.strohlsystems.com.

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Send Word Now, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.008-07:00

Send Word Now is a provider of on-demand alerting and response services driving effective communication during time sensitive situations. The easy-to-use, web based services are used by corporations, government agencies, and educational institutions to ensure fast, effective, two-way communication in real-time, ensuring continuity during time sensitive events - anywhere, anytime, regardless of location, device or connection. The company is headquartered in New York City.

Phone: (212) 379-4900 Fax: (212) 379-4901 Sales: (800) 388-4796
Website: http://www.sendwordnow.com email: info(at)sendwordnow.com.

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Honeywell

2007-05-01T00:01:00.007-07:00

Honeywell Building Solutions is part of the Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions business group, a global leader in providing product and service solutions that improve efficiency and profitability, support regulatory compliance, and maintain safe, comfortable environments in homes, buildings and industry. For more information about Honeywell Instant Alert Plus, call 800-345-6770 ext. 601 or visit www.honeywell.com/instantalert.

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3n - National Notification Network

2007-05-01T00:01:00.006-07:00

3n® (National Notification Network) is a provider of mass notification solutions to Global 2000 corporations, government agencies, healthcare systems, and educational institutions in more than 230 countries worldwide.

The Company's flagship InstaCom™ suite of products allows corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and schools to rapidly communicate in routine, urgent and emergency situations. InstaCom allows a user to send a message to ten or tens of thousands of people within minutes, and receive a confirmation report of who received the message and who has yet to be contacted. The message can be initiated via web or phone, and can be sent in voice and text format. The message will be delivered to all standard voice and text communication devices - such as phone, pager, fax, email, PDA, BlackBerry®, IM, etc.

Phone: (818) 230-9700 Fax: (818) 545-7040
Website: http://www.3nonline.com email: salesinfo(at)3nonline.com.

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MessageOne, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.005-07:00

Headquartered in Austin, the company’s Email Management Services (EMS™) provides comprehensive email archiving, storage management and e-Discovery with the total continuity, recovery, and security protection only available from a managed service. In addition, MessageOne’s AlertFind™ provides guaranteed emergency notification and escalation to help companies protect their employees during any crisis or disaster.

Phone: 512-652-4500 Toll-free: 888-367-0777 New York: 212-581-7905
Website: http://www.messageone.com email: info(at)messageone.com

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MadahCom, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.004-07:00

MadahCom, Inc., located in Sarasota, FL, is an established supplier of emergency control and Mass Notification Systems (MNS) to the Department of Defense, government and commercial customers.

With over a decade of experience in independent research and development of MNS as well as supplying advanced systems to approximately 200 military and government installations worldwide, MadahCom understands the unique missions and operational imperative of its customers: Military, Cities and Counties, Industrial and Chemical Plants, Corporate and University Campuses, Ports and Borders and Mass Transportation Hubs Around the world.

DHS Grants
Eleven different Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants can be utilized to acquire MadahCom’s Mass Notification System. WAVES MNS falls under the: DHS Office of Domestic Preparedness’ (ODP) Authorized Equipment List (AEL) and Standardized Equipment List (SEL) Category 13 Terrorism Incident Prevention Equipment, 13IT-00-ALRT – System, Alert/Notification. It is also qualified under AEL Category 4 Information Technology 04AP-09-ALRT - Systems, Public Notification and Warning.

DHS grants allocated for 13IT-00-ALRT and 04AP-09-ALRT include:

FY06 Chemical Sector Buffer Zone Protection Program (Chem-BZPP)
FY07 Buffer Zone Protection Program (BZPP)
FY07 Citizen Corps Program (CCP)
FY07 Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG)
FY07 Infrastructure Protection Program: Intercity Bus Security (IBSGP)
FY07 Infrastructure Protection Program: Port Security (PSGP)
FY07 Infrastructure Protection Program: Transit Security (TSGP)
FY07 Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP)
FY07 Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) program

For additional information on these grants, visit www.rkb.mipt.org.

Telephone: (941) 487-2300 Fax: (941) 487-238
Email: sales(at)madah.com Web: http://www.madah.com

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MIR3, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.003-07:00

MIR3 provides automated Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global and enterprise-wide communications and business continuity. MIR3’s inEnterprise™, inAlertCenter™, inTechCenter™, inGovAlert™, inCampusAlert™, inLocalAlert™ and inWebServices™ are built on a geo-dispersed, scalable telephony and application server platform that directs the global dissemination of time-urgent information to and from any communications device across any communication medium.

Its customers include the world’s top petroleum, soft-drink bottling, and consumer goods companies, IAC Interactive (which operates TicketMaster and Match.com), Belkin Worldwide®, US Air Force, Homeland Security’s National Medical Response Teams, The American Red Cross, LA County Department of Health, and the County of Orange, California, which has 1.4 million recipients loaded in their MIR3 Intelligent Notification system.

Phone: 858-724-1200 Fax: 858-724-1201 Sales Inquiries: 858-724-1241
Website: http://www.mir3.com email: sales(at)mir3.com.

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Amcom Software, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.002-07:00

Amcom Software provides mission critical communications technology solutions for organizations that depend on speed, accuracy, and productivity to support day-to-day business continuity and event-driven communications. Amcom Software's open technology, standards-based solutions are used by more than 400 blue-chip companies in healthcare, education, finance, utilities and government agencies. Customers include the U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marines and several other classified DOD and civilian government agencies.

Corporate: 800-852-8935 Toll-Free: 800-852-8935 Sales: 952-946-7729
Email: sales(at)amcomsoft.com Web: http://www.amcomsoftware.com.

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Cooper Industries Announces the Acquisition of MadahCom, Inc.

2007-05-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Industry-leading manufacturer of wireless Mass Notification Systems for military, commercial and industrial locations

HOUSTON, May 1, 2007 -- Cooper Industries, Ltd. (NYSE:CBE) today announced the acquisition of MadahCom, Inc. for $43 million. MadahCom, based in Florida, is a privately owned manufacturer of secure wireless emergency control and Mass Notification Systems (“MNS”). With sales of approximately $22 million of hardware, software and installation services in 2006, it currently has more than 200 installations worldwide at military, government, commercial sites, industrial locations and other campus environments.

MadahCom will become part of Cooper Wheelock’s Notification Systems business. With this acquisition, Cooper Wheelock expands its ability to provide customers with comprehensive indoor and outdoor notification system solutions designed to protect, alert and inform people in the event of an emergency.

“MadahCom’s capabilities in wireless technology deliver the industry-leading solution in the rapidly growing MNS market, where delivering the right message to the right people at the right time is paramount for evacuation and security. Coupled with our acquisition of Wheelock, Inc. in 2006 and our existing Cooper Menvier business, we now have a strong global platform in the fire and safety notification market,” said Cooper Industries Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kirk S. Hachigian. “The acquisition of MadahCom also builds upon our core competency in the RF wireless space, a technology that we have leveraged across Cooper to create ‘smart’ products that provide enhanced value for our customers.”

MadahCom’s flagship products, WAVES (Wireless Audio Visual Emergency System) and TACWAVES (Tactical WAVES), a portable alerting system, are personnel and public warning systems and feature sophisticated command and control software to activate safety sirens, customized voice messages and visual alerts via secure networks. The WAVES system also utilizes various other modes of communication including SMS, desktop alerting and dial-out systems. WAVES is classified as Commercial-Off-The-Shelf by the United States Department of Defense, making it acceptable to the widest range of government and military applications, and it is the only personnel alerting system that meets all of the Pentagon Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate requirements for force protection at military bases.

Coppin State University Boosts Campus Safety

2007-04-25T00:01:00.001-07:00

University officials will send emergency information to cell phones of students, faculty & staff

LEESBURG, VA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- April 25, 2007 - Omnilert, LLC, maker of a mass notification system for higher education called e2Campus, today announced that Coppin State University (CSU) will boost campus safety with the activation of a new cell phone text alert system by e2Campus. CSU is using the new web-based service to instantly push urgent news and emergency information to the cell phones of students, faculty and staff via Short Message Service (SMS) text messages.

Chief Miriam Wood, CSU's Campus Police Chief said, “We have implemented an Emergency Messaging System via mobile text alerts. It is a convenient system for all Coppin State University staff, faculty and students as they can sign up for SMS alerts with the option to receive simultaneous e-mail notification.”

Andrew Bain, Director of Web and Multimedia Development at CSU explains, “Students may not be on a computer checking email or the Web when an emergency hits. They may not be in their dorm room either. And, students can’t answer a phone call or check voicemail during class. To be able to send SMS text messages to students wherever they are, warning them of emergencies is a real break-through in student communication.”

“We initially purchased e2Campus for weather alerts, but now public safety is front and center. Later, we plan to use it in the marketing department for connecting with prospective students.”

How It Works
When using e2Campus’ centralized interface, a CSU school official types a message, selects the groups to receive the message, and then presses a button to send it. Within seconds, the message is simultaneously sent to thousands of relevant people via the method each recipient chose to receive it, such as a mobile phone (SMS text message), personal or school email account, RSS feed, wireless PDA, relevant school web pages using the automatic Bulletin Board feature, or “My Yahoo”, AOL, or Personalized Google web page.

About Coppin State University
Founded in 1900, Coppin State University is one of 13 campuses that comprise the University System of Maryland. A historically black liberal arts institution, Coppin State University enrolls approximately 4,300 students and offers more than 24 undergraduate majors, 33 minors, and 11 master’s degree programs in high-need areas such as education, nursing, counseling, and criminal justice. Located in the northwest section of Baltimore, the campus has the unique mission of focusing on the problems, needs, and aspirations of residents of Baltimore City and surrounding areas. A fully accredited urban, residential campus, Coppin serves Baltimore residents as well as students from around the world, with flexible course schedules that include convenient day, evening, and weekend classes.

MIR3 Announces Renewal of Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association - LACERA

2007-04-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

inEnterprise™ 2.8 Business Continuity Implementation ensures Uninterrupted Information Protection for LACERA

SAN DIEGO, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- April 25, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, today announced that the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA), has signed up for a second year on their emergency notification system contract.

MIR3 has delivered its inEnterprise™ 2.8 which is designed to make critical emergency and non- emergency communications of multi-national companies private, and includes preferred routing, incident management, topic subscription and multi-language support, among others. LACERA exists to produce, protect and provide the promised benefits to approximately 150,000 members. LACERA uses inEnterprise for their business continuity requirements.

By applying the latest technology and innovative problem-solving strategies, such as inEnterprise, along with proven business tactics, they are strategically positioned to respond to fluctuating conditions, prosper in a changing world, and provide the best results for their membership. “The largest corporations in the world have driven the latest developments of version 2.8,” said Dan Long, chief technology officer at MIR3. “This represents an important step toward a complete set of global emergency and non-emergency notification and management tools.

Source: Vendor Press Release

MIR3 Releases inCampusAlert - Emergency Notification and Campus Alerting for Colleges and Universities

2007-04-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Campus-Alerting system supports SMS, pager, cellular and landline capability

SAN DIEGO, CA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- April 20, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification (IN®) solutions for global enterprises, today announced a comprehensive solution for notifications in the academic environment. Included in the product is MIR3’s new topic subscription capability, which allows students and staff to “opt-in” for various types of events such as weather alerts, class announcements, criminal activity warnings, and health notices.

Designed to make critical emergency and non-emergency communications of multi-national companies private, more efficient and cost effective, MIR3’s Intelligent Notification v2.8 can easily handle the requirements of student and staff groups of any magnitude. “We support numerous Fortune 50 companies on a global scale,” said Dan Long, chief technology officer at MIR3.

“We can bring a college campus on-line in less than a day.” MIR3’s new product, inCampusAlert™, which is based on the company’s enterprise-grade technology, bridges the gap between all standard forms of communication to enable high-speed two-way communications to tens of thousands of users and devices.

All modalities are supported, including email, wireless pager, PDA, text messaging, landline, mobile phone, satellite phone, TDD/TTY, fax and two-way SMS. MIR3's notification capabilities can also be used for routine high-volume messaging and all-purpose broadcasting, such as administrative notices to employees, messages for coordinating staffing and schedules, and delivering important, auditable information to customers.

MIR3 Selected by AtHoc as its Service Provider for Telephony Notification

2007-04-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

MIR3 to provide Global Telephony Notification Services to AtHoc via inWebServices.
inWebServices Powered by MIR3 Intelligent Notification Initiative Continues to Grow.

San Diego, California --[EMERGENCYNOTIFICATIONNEWS] -- April 12, 2007 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification™ solutions for global enterprises, today announced the company has entered into an agreement with AtHoc, Inc., a leading supplier of enterprise-class network-centric alerting systems, to provide AtHoc and its customers with telephony notification subscription services.

Under the terms of the agreement, MIR3 will provide AtHoc with the ability to trigger telephone notifications using MIR3’s global telephony alerting capabilities. As part of inWebServices, MIR3 exposes its products’ application programming interface (API) as a Web service, making it easy for partners and customers to integrate MIR3 alerting capabilities into their own alerting applications.

“Many of our customers use AtHoc’s IWSAlerts™ net-centric alerting system to fulfill their requirement for a single central notification system that manages and triggers all forms of alerting simultaneously. By partnering with MIR3, we now have a strong option for triggering telephony alerting,” stated Aviv Siegel, chief technology officer for AtHoc. “By connecting the MIR3 service via Web services, telephones act as an extension of our IP-based notification management system. This complements our ability to alert all IP-connected devices, send SMS messages, activate public announcement systems, trigger the national Emergency Alert System (EAS), and provide many more alerting capabilities.”

“After evaluating the notification services market,” continued Siegel, “it became clear that MIR3 has expertise with services oriented architecture and Web services – they know how to deliver on both. They have provided us with a true ‘plug-and-play’ solution that allows us to integrate and ship our products faster.”

MIR3’s chief strategy officer (CSO), Frank Mahdavi, commented, “AtHoc’s unmatched success in the DoD, government and large commercial enterprise markets makes them an ideal partner for MIR3. We believe that AtHoc is positioned to become the alerting standard in the DoD and within the government physical security and force protection market, and we’re excited to be part of the solution. Our Intelligent Notification platform has been widely adopted by system integrators, developers and communication solution providers, due in large part to our commitment to a service oriented architecture, ease-of-implementation, scalability, security and reliability.”

MIR3’s president and CEO Amir Moussavian said, “We came into 2007 with the clear goal of delivering our emergency-ready global notification capability technology to developers and partners through the inWebServices Powered by MIR3 Intelligent Notification initiative. AtHoc’s partnership is important to us and we believe that this agreement illustrates MIR3’s technology lead in global enterprise notification. We’re deployed by the largest businesses across diverse corporate functions such as sales and marketing, corporate communications, supply chain management and business continuity, and we look forward to additional partners joining us.”

MIR3 inWebServices is built on the SOAP 1.2-compliant XML J2EE standard. The inWebServices Powered by MIR3 Intelligent Notification program costs nothing to join, but registration is required. Developers and integrators can register for the program here.

Source: Vendor Press Release

State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz

2007-04-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

University to send campus closings and emergency info to cell phones of students, faculty & staff

LEESBURG, VA --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- April 10, 2007 – Omnilert, LLC, maker of a mass notification system for higher education called e2Campus, today announced that the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz has purchased e2Campus. SUNY New Paltz will use the Web-based service to instantly push urgent news and public safety information to the cell phones of students, faculty and staff whether recipients are in class, on campus, or going about their day off campus. Recipients do not need special software or hardware to receive the alerts. Recipients with an existing cell phone or email account simply register online to receive the alerts.

Rachel Reuben, Director of Web Communication & Strategic Projects at SUNY New Paltz said, “In order to communicate a delay or cancellation on campus due to weather or any other kind of emergency situation, we currently update at least two different Web sites, contact a dozen regional media outlets, update our on-campus information line, contact our switchboard operators and Welcome Center greeters, and send e-mails to the appropriate lists. However, no matter how much outreach we attempt, we still find we get occasional calls from students that say they didn't know or hear that we delayed or canceled classes.”

“We realized it was time to look into other solutions - and that's when we found e2Campus. We have heavy cell phone, and especially text-messaging, use on our campus, and realized that's the perfect way to reach our students, faculty and staff. When we learned that e2Campus has other features that will reduce the time we spend on our current procedures for notifications, we were sold.”