Posts Tagged ‘Government’

Emergency Notification Systems Get the Word Out

Federal agencies deploy IP-based products that support everything from voice to texting and even social media.

Excerpt from Ed Tech Magazine E-Newsletter by Dan Tynan

After a hostage crisis at Johnson Space Center in April 2007, NASA knew it needed a better way to inform its people during an emergency.

This fall the space agency implemented Singlewire Software’s InformaCast at its Washington, D.C., headquarters, integrating the ENS with the agency’s Cisco IP phone and data networks.

“If we’re in a hostage situation, we don’t want the floor where the hostage taker is to know what’s going on, but we still need to inform the rest of the building,” says Mike Barrett, telecommunications manager at NASA headquarters.

“With InformaCast, we can selectively send messages to all floors, specific floors or all floors but one. We can also send on-screen pop ups to specific PCs and Macs.”

InformaCast’s versatility is what sold them on the system, adds Danny Gear, IT support contract telecommunications supervisor. It lets them send text or audio to random individuals scattered throughout a building.

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