System Calls Residents, Mobilizes First Responders During Severe Weather, Missing Persons and other Emergencies
Clarksville, Tennessee --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- February 20, 2006 - Through Department of Homeland Security funds, District 7 officials today announced they have acquired a powerful new Telephone Emergency Notification System, which will be known district-wide as TENS. The new system will significantly strengthen the District’s emergency response and communications capabilities.
TENS will be used before, during and after emergency situations, such as terrorist threats or flooding evacuations. The technology, developed by Franklin, TN-based Dialogic Communications Corporation (DCC), is an Internet-based calling engine. It will allow the District to rapidly alert residents in their homes and mobilize first responders, including police, fire, EMS and emergency management.
Through advanced mapping software, TENS can pinpoint, and then automatically contact, homes and businesses within specific geographic locations. District officials select these notification areas on digital, street-level maps - ranging from a single city block to the entire District. When activated, residents will receive a phone call with important information or safety instructions. This could include shelter locations or the description of a missing child in a specific neighborhood.
The District has a three-year service contract with Dialogic at a cost of $187,500.
TENS data is derived from all listed residential and business phone numbers throughout the District. Unlisted, non-published, cellular, blocked, and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) numbers are not in the calling database. Those not having published numbers, may visit http://gisweb.apsu.edu/hls_r911/tens.htm to submit the required information in order to be added.
Tennessee Homeland Security Distrcit 7 Obtains New Emergency Notification System
3n Provides Mass Notification Solution to Three Oklahoma Schools
Schools Will Use Communication System from 3n Channel Partner SNS for Emergency and Routine Situations
GLENDALE, CALIF. --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- February 16, 2006 – 3n (National Notification Network), a provider of mass notification systems, today announced three new customers with channel partner Superior Notification Systems (SNS). Sand Springs Public School (grades 9-12), Tulsa’s Town & Country School and Broken Arrow’s Immanuel Christian Academy will rely on 3n’s mass notification system for communications with parents and children in emergency and routine situations.
Emergency communications plans for schools are a “must-have” as schools are constantly at risk of being affected by a major crisis. The ability to notify parents, contact emergency responders, and mobilize staff in an efficient and reliable manner can save lives, prevent injury, and minimize property damage. Administrators at Sand Springs, Town & Country and Immanuel Christian Academy cited weather-related emergencies, such as tornadoes and snow days, lockdowns, and fires as specific instances where mass notification would be filling a direct need for improved communication.
Katherine McGrew, headmaster at Immanuel Christian Academy, comments, "The message confirmation feature in particular is crucial because it eliminates the guesswork we would normally make. Our parents are busy and they appreciate accurate and quick communication. They now have confidence they can receive timely and important messages from us.”
According to Robert Franklin, Sand Springs Assistant Superintendent, “We are constantly striving to improve our connections with students and parents. We have used creative grant funding to pilot the fees for this service as we look to improve student academic achievement, improve attendance, and seek to improve communication with parents. This service will be a significant cog in our planning to manage complicated emergencies that might unfold with our students and school family members.”
Tulsa, Okla.-based Superior Notification Systems is a channel partner providing the 3n mass notification system to local schools, churches and businesses in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri in response to 9/11 and the federal government’s need for effective mass communications in emergency situations.
Shure Chooses MIR3’s inEnterprise for Company-Wide Business Continuity and Emergency Communications
San Diego, California --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- January 18, 2006 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent Notification™ solutions, today announced that Shure® Incorporated, a global leader in audio electronics, has contracted with MIR3 to provide notification services. Shure will utilize MIR3’s inEnterprise, which works in conjunction with standard corporate databases such as LDAP, Microsoft® Active Directory®, Oracle®, Peoplesoft®, SunGard® ParagonTM and Strohl Systems® LDRPS®, and allows organizations to consolidate communications across all divisions into a single Intelligent Notification platform. The ability to integrate across divisions simplifies the deployment process and decreases the upkeep time spent on maintaining the integrity of the notification system.
inEnterprise will allow Shure’s designated personnel to notify hundreds of employees simultaneously on any device, including landlines, mobile phones, pagers, PDAs and email, about weather-related office closure information, to convey company news and announcements, as well as for high-priority communications that could affect business continuity in the event of a regional or facility-related crisis.
According to Shure’s Chief Information Officer, Paul Erbach, MIR3’s business reputation for supplying top-notch customer and technical support, as well as the proven reliability of MIR3’s Intelligent Notification technology, were the key reasons that Shure named MIR3 as its notification service provider.
“We needed a technology solution that would allow us to reach all of our associates in the event of a crisis. Of all the systems we tested, and we did test quite a few, MIR3’s notification was the only one that returned a hundred percent of the notifications successfully,” said Erbach. “It also offered more features than the other service providers which gives us the option of utilizing MIR3 in other departments and applications within Shure. That flexibility was very appealing to us.” inEnterprise features MIR3’s Enterprise Access Control (EAC™), which brings a new level of security to enterprise-wide communications. MIR3’s EAC allows designated users, defined by their role and those security attributes, to send time-sensitive communications only to their defined departmental sphere of influence. It increases the level of accountability and security required of high priority communications for government, military and globally distributed organizations with stringent security policies in IT, corporate security, supply chain / logistics, human resources, and sales divisions.
“MIR3 is extremely pleased to add Shure to our growing list of customers,” said Margi Schmidt, Senior Vice President of Business Development at MIR3. “After 80 years in business, Shure has become an established, globally renowned company in the audio electronics industry. Shure is a also a technology innovator that reap the benefits of our advanced notification technology to make communicating with its employees more effective and in turn, will be able to service its customer base more efficiently.”
About Shure, Inc.
Founded in 1925 as a one-man operation, Shure Incorporated is a global provider of audio electronics. Headquartered in Niles, Illinois, Shure manufactures and distributes audio processing equipment, phonograph cartridges, wireless systems, and personal monitors. Since 1925, Shure’s microphones and electronics have been the tools of choice for politicians, musicians, corporations, churches and broadcasters around the world. Shure’s most visible and well-known users include Grammy® winners such as India.Arie, Nelly Furtado, ‘N Sync, Christina Aquilera, Buddy Guy, Patti LaBelle, Brandy and the Dixie Chicks, among others.
United Network For Organ Sharing Implements Emergency Notification System
Emergency Notification For Donor Coordination
New York, NY --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- January 11, 2006 - Send Word Now, an emergency notification and incident management service, has recently signed an agreement with United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to collaboratively build and deliver electronic notifications of available organs between the transplant and organ procurement communities. Send Word Now will offer web services and technology support to UNOS in order to decrease the time it takes donor coordinators to communicate with transplant teams.
"The Send Word Now service helps organizations with time-critical communications and coordination," said Mitchell Orlowsky, President and CEO of Send Word Now. "We believe that our service will help to dramatically improve the placement of organs with patients by more effectively transmitting the time-critical data that is necessary to successfully complete the organ transplant process."
According to UNOS'Assistant Executive Director for Technology Berkeley Keck, "Electronic notification will replace individual phone calls, and donor data posted on UNOS' secure site will replace faxing the same information to multiple transplant centers. The time it takes to place an organ will be reduced substantially."
UNOS'Organ Center staff and procurement coordinators at Organ Procurement Organizations will use Send Word Now's delivery tool to distribute notifications about organ offers to transplant centers using phone- and text-based communications devices. E-mail and text messages will include URL links to UNOS'secure web pages containing medical information about the donor and the organ being offered. Transplant team members can follow these links to view the information they need to decide whether to accept an organ for the patient to whom it is being offered.
"By the beginning of 2007, transplant centers will respond electronically to organ offers. We hope to increase survival rates by considerably reducing the time it takes to place each organ," said Keck.
About UNOS
A private, nonprofit organization, UNOS manages the nation's organ transplant system and oversees the world's most comprehensive database of clinical transplant information under contract with the federal government. UNOS operates the 24-hour computerized organ sharing system, matching donated organs to patients registered on the national organ transplant waiting list. UNOS seeks to increase organ donation through education and improve transplant success rates through outcomes-based research and policymaking. Transplant scientists and health officials recognize UNOS-developed technology applications as the international model for organ sharing.
Press Contacts:
UNOS News Bureau
804-782-4730
newsroom@unos.org
Tampa Electric Chooses MIR3 inAlertCenter for Emergency and Business Continuity Communications
TECO Energy’s Electric and Gas Subsidiaries Throughout Florida Benefit from Coordinated, Streamlined Two-Way Notification Services from MIR3
San Diego, California --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- December 6, 2005 – MIR3™, the technology leader in Intelligent NotificationTM solutions, today announced that Tampa Electric, a subsidiary of TECO Energy, Inc., has contracted with MIR3 to provide Intelligent Notification services. MIR3’s Intelligent Notification solutions and services enable designated individuals to send high-speed emergency communications to and from any device, such as landline, satellite and mobile phones, email, pagers, SMS, PDAs and fax, to individual recipients, groups or organization-wide with the click of a mouse.
Tampa Electric will utilize MIR3’s inAlertCenter to communicate internally with the Utilities’ more than 3,500 employees about weather-related emergencies, disasters and business continuity issues, such as IT-related outages. Designed for ease-of-use, MIR3’s inAlertCenter intuitive interface is simple to manage by non-technical personnel. It allows contact information to be easily updated and managed by anyone.
“The fact that inAlertCenter is extremely easy to use and records the success of calls sent and received was very important to us when choosing a notification system,” said Sue Connell, the Emergency Management Coordinator at Tampa Electric. “With the series of severe hurricanes we’ve had recently, it was imperative that we have a notification system in place in order to quickly communicate between departments and in order to speed hurricane restoration efforts.”
inAlertCenter features call bridging into call centers and conference calls; find/follow recipients based on their device priority and calendar schedule; complete 128-bit SSL security encryption and authentication; recorded voice or text-to-speech options; detailed reporting and metrics to determine the delivery success of outbound notifications and cascading of new notifications by recipients.
Tampa Electric joins a growing list of public sector and private organizations, such as the City of Miami, South Mississippi Electric, ImpactWeather and the Calcasieu Police Jury in Louisiana that already utilize MIR3’s Intelligent Notification for high-priority communications, emergency preparedness, business continuity and disaster recovery purposes.
“Tampa Electric is one of the many organizations that we were able to help prepare for the onslaught of hurricanes they experienced in the Southeast – both this year and last,” said Margi Schmidt, Senior Vice President of Business Development at MIR3. “We are pleased to help Tampa Electric get inAlertCenter up and running quickly with systematic, automated SAP database updates in order to make communicating company-wide before and during emergencies more efficient and much more manageable for its staff.”
About TECO Energy, Inc.
TECO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: TE) is an integrated energy-related holding company with regulated utility businesses, complemented by a family of unregulated businesses. Its principal subsidiary, Tampa Electric Company, is a regulated utility with both electric and gas divisions (Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas System). Other subsidiaries are engaged in waterborne transportation, coal and synthetic fuel production and electric generation and distribution in Guatemala.