BURLINGAME, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 15, 2007 -- 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. HISCD is actively leveraging IP-based, network-centric technology to create a state-of-the-art, multi-channel alerting system for the state's emergency preparedness community. 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
The HISCD emergency notification system, when fully integrated,
incorporates the following key capabilities using AtHoc IWSAlerts.
-- Multi-channel Alerting through the Network: Promptly and effectively
send alerts to the Hawaii emergency response community using multiple
redundant digital and telephony communication means, including SMS text
messaging, IP-based desktop alerting, pagers and telephony, all using a
single system.
-- Special Needs Alerting: Provide special alerting capabilities for the
special needs community, including alerting via TTY/TDD and specialized
desktop alerting that is compliant with Section 508 of the Federal
Rehabilitation Act.
-- Public Warning System: Provide general public warning by integrating
with the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and enable remote activation of EAS
via the integrated Web-based application.
-- Online Access and Subscription: Enable non-HISCD personnel to sign-in
to alerting services online and subscribe to desired opt-in alerts.
-- Critical Event Monitoring: Monitor events communicated from external
agencies (i.e. the National Weather Service) and automatically trigger
alerts based on criteria defined by HISCD.
-- Interoperability with Other Agencies: Support interoperability with
other agencies to deliver alerts to cascaded emergency alerting systems,
using the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and XML.
-- Modernized Alerting Architecture: Modernize HISCD alerting capability
to support network-centric, Web-based architecture.
AtHoc IWSAlerts is a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) product currently in
use by the US Military and other major commercial and government
organizations.
About AtHoc
AtHoc, Inc. is a recognized leader in providing enterprise-class, network-centric emergency notification systems used for force protection, installation alerting, public safety and critical enterprise communications. Millions of end users worldwide, in organizations such as the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Boeing, PwC and eBay rely on AtHoc's alert delivery and management systems for their critical communication and alerting needs. AtHoc has partnered with market leaders including Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, Siemens, Unisys, Avaya and others to bring these notifications solutions to the public and commercial markets.
For more information on AtHoc, please visit http://www.athoc.com.
Contact Information: Contact: Dawn Onley Spire Communications (240) 446-9018 Email Contact