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

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

Adelphi University Selects MessageOne To Expand Its Communications Capabilities

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.

Middlebury College Selects MessageOne For Emergency Notification System

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.

MessageOne, Inc.

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

Does this bio need updating? Please send request changes here.

National Weather Service Forecast Office in Fort Worth Deploys Notification System for Emergency Management Agencies

MessageOne’s AlertFind Selected for Critical Communications to First Responders

Austin, TX --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- August 16, 2005 – The National Weather Service’s (NWS) Fort Worth/Dallas forecast office is ready for action with a new emergency notification system that allows the office to quickly and easily notify first responders prior to the issuance of public weather products. Austin-based MessageOne, Inc. announced its AlertFind system is now in operation at the NWS office. The NWS forecast office provides forecasts and warnings for 46 counties with an estimated seven million residents in this weather hotbed. The NWS is the official voice of the United States for issuing warnings during life-threatening weather situations.

Evaluation of Notification Systems
The Fort Worth/Dallas forecast office began its search for an emergency notification system late last year when the staff realized its emergency management partners had a wide variety of methods for receiving notifications from the NWS. The emergency managers benefit from an early “heads-up” prior to the official public warning. The mission-critical information provides them time to deploy their storm spotter groups, activate their emergency operations centers, and prepare to handle incoming calls from the public.

Gary Woodall, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the forecast office, began the effort to revamp the office’s pre-notification system. “We needed a solution that would be easy to learn and use, and one that would not require extensive resources to manage,” explained Woodall. “Likewise, our emergency management and storm spotter partners wanted a system that would be compatible with their existing technology, be it alphanumeric pagers, conventional e-mail, PDAs, or voice telephone lines.”

Pre-Alert System Adopted for Regular Use
After several months of an evaluation phase with key emergency team members in the system, the NWS office has moved into regular usage with first responders in North Texas who have the equipment to receive the text messages. Several members of the NWS staff issue the notification messages when necessary and they can do so from any computer or phone in the operations area. Within minutes, a pre-notification message can be sent to all or any subset of the network simultaneously.

The NWS office and their emergency management partners are doing everything they can to prepare in advance for the late summer/early fall weather season that in this part of the country is well known for tornados, floods, and severe weather systems.

Town Of Belmont Selects MessageOne’s AlertFind Service For Emergency Broadcasts & Notification

Austin, TX --[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION NEWS]-- March 8, 2005 – The Local Emergency Planning Committee of Belmont, Mass. today announced it has selected MessageOne’s AlertFind service to enable town leaders to rapidly broadcast notification of critical information to its select residents in the event of an emergency situation.

The MessageOne AlertFind notification and emergency broadcast system enables the Town of Belmont to provide immediate communications to town personnel and its 24,000 residents about urgent issues, such as public health updates related to the chemical plating company located in a densely populated neighborhood. Located outside Boston, the Town of Belmont covers 4.71 square miles, adjacent to Cambridge and Watertown and Lexington Mass.
“Public safety and ensuring the timely dissemination of critical communication and information to Belmont residents -- particularly in times of crises – are top priorities for our administration,” said Leo J. Saidnawey, Director of Belmont’s Emergency Management Agency. “Belmont is proud to be a leader among communities, by taking the extra precautions to secure our emergency communications plan. We are extremely appreciative of MessageOne’s partnership and commend them for their commitment to homeland defense and public safety initiatives at the local level.”

With the MessageOne AlertFind service, the Town of Belmont can reach any individual (citizen, town employee, etc), anywhere, anytime, via text-enabled devices or voice-enabled devices -- ranging from home phones, mobile phones, pagers, wireless devices, SMS, to email accounts and more. With two-way communication, AlertFind enables the town leaders of Belmont to reach its audience and poll users to gather real-time data on their safety, status or on critical situations as they unfold.

“We see great potential for emergency notification at the local level and are proud to be working closely with the forward-thinking civic leadership in The Town of Belmont,” said MessageOne Founder Adam Dell. “Belmont is ahead of the curve by taking advantage of cutting-edge technology to make a positive and powerful difference in the quality of life and peace of mind of its residents.”