Mary Rose Roberts
Mary Rose Roberts is the associate editor of Urgent Communications, formerly Mobile Radio Technology magazine. She can be reached at maryrose.roberts@penton.com
SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BridgeWave Communications, the leading supplier of gigabit wireless solutions, today announced the company has been awarded a contract specifying BridgeWave as an approved gigabit wireless vendor for state and local agencies throughout the State of Maryland. The Two-Way Radio Equipment and Services Master Contract includes BridgeWave Communications’ entire catalogue of high-capacity 60-80 GHz products.
On July 1, 2008, the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) was named the primary unit responsible for the approval and oversight of Information Technology (IT) procurements, including all telecommunications devices and systems utilized by state agencies. For inclusion in the Master Contract, vendors are subject to a mandatory review by the DoIT prior to approval. Once a vendor is included in the Master Contract, local Value Added Resellers (VARs) work with state agencies to devise solutions to specific technical needs utilizing products listed in the Master Contract.
One such VAR, Communications Electronics, holds several State of Maryland contracts, including the Two-Way Radio Equipment and procurement of two-way (including mobile) radio equipment contract and is the exclusive reseller of BridgeWave Communications’ products in Maryland.
“BridgeWave Communications has a proven history of successful installations with leading government agencies,” said Jonathan Favorite, director of vendor relations and product management at Communications Electronics. “The inclusion of BridgeWave in the State of Maryland’s Master Contract will allow other state and local agencies to leverage BridgeWave’s cost effective fiber-equivalent gigabit links as a reliable solution for seamless network connectivity.”
In addition, BridgeWave Communications is the only wireless vendor in the State of Maryland’s Master Contract offering exclusive AdaptRate™ (AR) technology with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) feature. Unfavorable weather conditions like rain may at times interfere with ordinary outdoor wireless solutions’ connectivity. BridgeWave’s AR-enabled radios switch transmissions from GigE to 100 Mb/s data rates in times of torrential downpour to maintain a highly available link. Additionally, BridgeWave’s advanced security products, including the AES feature add another layer of data protection to the inherently secure wireless links.
“Ensuring reliability and high capacity performance are imperative when selecting a wireless solution for government agencies,” says Amir Makleff, CEO of BridgeWave Communications. “Agencies within the State of Maryland can benefit from our gigabit wireless radios to provide fiber-equivalent network connectivity free of exorbitant costs plaguing the installation or leasing of fiber. In tougher economic times, BridgeWave is pleased to provide a cost-effective solution for Maryland’s network connectivity needs.”
About BridgeWave Communications
Founded in 1999, BridgeWave Communications is the leading supplier of outdoor Gigabit wireless connectivity solutions. The company’s exclusive AdaptRate™ and AdaptPath™ technologies combined with its advanced Forward Error Correction capability deliver the highest availability at the longest distances for full-rate gigabit links. BridgeWave’s point-to-point, wireless solutions are widely deployed in mainstream enterprise and service provider network applications and are poised to play a key role in the migration to 4G mobile network backhaul. With the largest installed base of GigE radios worldwide, BridgeWave delivers the highest levels of product quality and reliability. For more information, visit www.bridgewave.com.
MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ — QinetiQ North America, a global developer of innovative technology solutions for national defense, homeland security and first responders, today announced that its Technology Solutions Group subsidiary, Foster-Miller, is now offering a TALON(R) Responder robot specifically designed for public safety, fire and rescue organizations. TALON Responder provides the same rugged, high-performance, fast-response capabilities of the military version of the robot, but at a cost that addresses the budget realities law enforcement and first responders face today. The first sale was recorded in December 2008 to a California police department.
With long-range and agile wireless digital communications, as well as analog, TALON Responder is ready to serve even in the most challenging conditions, such as those found in highly RF-congested inner cities. The robot includes a disruptor-ready manipulator arm, wrist and gripper that provide exceptional combined lifting, dragging, towing and grabbing capabilities. The gripper can exert up to 30 inch-pounds of force on a 6-inch-wide object — more than enough to meet the needs of emergency response teams. Three infrared illuminated color cameras, including a pan/tilt mast with color zoom camera, complete the robot’s standard configuration. A laptop controller with gamepad controls allows operation of TALON Responder from a safe distance — up to 500 to 1,200 meters (1,600 to 4,000 feet) — depending on the radio option selected.
“Some firms give law enforcement only entry-level products,” said Dr. William Ribich, president of QinetiQ North America’s Technology Solutions Group. “We focus on providing robust, rugged solutions that meet the need to protect explosive ordnance disposal technicians and others from injury or death - providing mission-critical performance that can still work within the budget of a state or local agency.”
With the same industry-leading reliability, serviceability and toughness as all other robots in the TALON family, the TALON Responder is hardy enough to operate 24/7 under even the harshest of weather conditions — including 100 percent humidity — to address the high-performance requirements of first responders everywhere.
According to Dr. Ribich, the ongoing expansion of the TALON line of robots is QinetiQ North America’s response to the nation’s growing interest in using robots not only for combat missions and support, but for expanded first responder operations as well. Today, more than 2,500 TALON robots are deployed around the world with military and first responders, providing life-saving distance from threatening devices and situations.
“We’re always improving and expanding our line of products to meet the complex challenges of national defense and homeland security, and we’re dedicated to delivering the best robotic solutions in the industry,” Dr. Ribich added.
About QinetiQ North America
QinetiQ North America delivers world-class technology and responsive solutions to government agencies and commercial customers for many of their most urgent and complex challenges. QinetiQ North America is an independent, innovative technology provider that earns over a billion dollars in revenue operating with small company speed and agility while leveraging significant global resources. More than 6,000 QinetiQ North America engineers, scientists and other professionals have the mission knowledge and proven, reliable performance to meet the rapidly changing demands of national defense, homeland security, information assurance and state and local customers. For more information, please visit www.QinetiQ-NA.com.
About QinetiQ North America Technology Solutions Group
QinetiQ North America’s Technology Solutions Group, headquartered in Waltham, MA, includes the businesses of Foster-Miller, Inc., and its subsidiaries Planning Systems Incorporated, Automatika, Applied Perception, Spectro, Inc., and the research and development activities of Apogen Technologies, Inc. It is a technology and product development group with an international reputation for delivering innovative products and systems that perform under the most demanding conditions.
HAWTHORNE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS), a vertically-integrated provider of specialized electronic products for critical applications in the Security and Healthcare industries, today announced that its Security division, Rapiscan Systems, has received a contract for approximately $2 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. Under the terms of the contract award, the Company will complete the development of an advanced technology that would be capable of detecting weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons and radiological dispersal devices (i.e. dirty bombs). The technology is to be incorporated on the Rapiscan Eagle® Portal and used for the inspection of trucking and shipping containers.
This contract represents the culmination of a four-year development program conducted by Rapiscan. The enhanced Rapiscan Eagle® Portal, incorporating the Company’s proprietary Auto-Z™algorithm which provides automatic detection of high-atomic-number materials associated with nuclear weapons as well as shielding materials, recently completed a preliminary evaluation conducted by government experts at the Company’s testing facility where it was able to detect simulated nuclear threats in a variety of cargo. Upon completion of the contract award it is expected that the DNDO will deploy the system at a U.S. port for pilot testing where it will be operated under controlled conditions within the port’s normal stream of cargo commerce.
The Rapiscan Eagle® Portal is a drive-through X-ray imaging system capable of penetrating dense cargo at increased inspection rates without the impeding the flow of commerce. The system is part of Rapiscan’s Eagle® product line of High Energy X-ray Cargo inspection systems that features mobile, gantry, portal and fixed deployment configurations. The products have been installed internationally for use by military, customs and border protection agencies.
About OSI Systems, Inc.
OSI Systems, Inc. is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of specialized electronic systems and components for critical applications in the homeland security, healthcare, defense and aerospace industries. We combine more than 30 years of electronics engineering and manufacturing experience with offices and production facilities in more than a dozen countries to implement a strategy of expansion into selective end product markets. For more information on OSI Systems Inc. or any of its subsidiary companies, visit www.osi-systems.com. News Filter: OSIS-G
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include information regarding the Company’s expectations, goals or intentions about the future, including the Company’s predictions with regard to the prospective performance of, and market acceptance of the enhanced Rapiscan Eagle® Portal incorporating the advanced Rad-Nuke detection technology. The actual results may differ materially from those described in or implied by any forward-looking statement. Other important factors are set forth in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Contacts
OSI Systems Inc
Jeremy Norton
Vice President, Investor Relations & Business Development
OCEANSIDE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The City of Oceanside, CA and Tropos® Networks, the market leader in wireless IP broadband mesh networks, today announced that Oceanside’s wireless broadband network is significantly improving the operational efficiencies of its public safety and utility organizations while reducing costs and improving overall services for the community.
The City’s goal in deploying the network was to find a cost effective means of providing public safety and public works organizations with greater flexibility and real-time access to information from the field. By building and operating their own wireless broadband network, the City has been able to achieve this goal and now has an IP infrastructure that can be also used for other city services.
Public Safety First To Benefit
The network was first used by the police and fire departments to improve community safety by providing mobile public safety workers with improved access to critical information in the field. Police officers connect to the network from laptops in their patrol cars, giving them real time access to key databases and enabling them to download photos, file reports and access the same applications as at the precinct. The fire department has access to electronic real-time maps, to help them quickly locate emergencies and fires. In addition, they can review site maps, building floor plans and hazardous materials information while en route to a fire or accident and locate water hydrants, helping them develop their response plan before they arrive on scene.
City’s Water Department Achieves Efficiency Gains
Oceanside’s water department field crews are experiencing dramatic improvements in time savings and reduction in cost. Field crews can remain in the field more of the time and critical communications such as dig alerts and geographical information system (GIS) data is sent directly to their laptops. The ability for crews to remain in the field while having access to the information they need has improved their efficiency in completing jobs while reducing time and cost. In addition, carbon emissions are reduced since workers spend less time on the road.
Previously, water department crews working in the field returned to the water district main office multiple times each day. In the morning, they would obtain a schedule and deploy crews to problem sites. When a critical problem occurred at another location, they would have to return to the office, get the specifics about the new problem, and go back out to the field. Often crews needed to return to the office to access current GIS data as the old paper map books they carried in their vehicles were out of date and could misguide them on where to dig to access pipes.
Remote Reservoir Monitoring Saves Time
The wireless network is also being used to remotely monitor the city’s water reservoirs in real-time. Rather than sending a water department worker to the reservoir to take water level measurements, the City is using a remotely monitored Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to effectively monitor the reservoir’s water levels. This enables the water department to have access to critical information at any time and to make accurate and quick decisions on the number of gallons entering and leaving the reservoir, as well as to manage city water consumption – all from a central location.
Fulfilling the Vision of a Municipal Communications Foundation
The wireless broadband network covers the main traffic corridors of the City’s 50 square miles. Tropos’ 5210 and 5320 routers have been installed on police station, fire station, and special investigations unit buildings. In addition, to extend the coverage area, police, fire and water utility vehicles have been outfitted with mobile Tropos’ 4210 mobile routers.
“Oceanside’s use of Tropos is yet another strong example of how cities can benefit from owning, deploying and operating their own wireless network that is cost effectively leveraged by multiple municipal departments to improve efficiencies and services for the community, said Denise Barton, Marketing Director for Tropos Networks. “Like Oceanside, many of our customers are seeking to build a cost effective IP foundation for creating a greener, safer, smarter city.”
About Tropos Networks, Inc.
Tropos® Networks is the worldwide market leader in wireless IP broadband mesh networks. Its solutions create greener, safer, smarter foundations for deployment of high-value applications that increase efficiencies and reduce operational costs within communities. Greener – automated utility meter reading and intelligent transportation systems. Safer – mobile public safety communications and IP video surveillance. Smarter – enabling mobile workers to access information from the field. The Tropos MetroMesh™ system delivers the highest levels of reliability, scalability, and security in the industry with more than 500 customers in over 30 countries. Founded in 2001, Tropos Networks is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, please visit www.tropos.com, call 408-331-6800 or write to info@tropos.com. Tropos is a registered trademark and MetroMesh is a trademark of Tropos Networks, Inc.
SAN MATEO, Ca. (January 21, 2009) – AtHoc, Inc., the pioneer and leader in network-centric emergency notification systems, today announced the U.S. Air Force Central Command (USAFCENT) has awarded a $5.4 million contract for a theater-wide deployment of AtHoc IWSAlerts™ . Through this award, AtHoc has become the network-centric emergency mass notification standard for the entire command and will be deployed at all USAFCENT installations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other allied nations.
USAFCENT is the air component of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). It is responsible for air operations, either unilaterally or in concert with coalition partners, and for contingency planning to support CENTCOM’s 20-nation area of responsibility in Southwest Asia. Once deployed, AtHoc IWSAlerts will provide a command-wide alerting solution for reaching all personnel within the command while also providing each installation with its own local alerting system.
AtHoc has a proven track record in the Department of Defense (DoD). AtHoc solutions today are being used to support more than 1.2 million DoD personnel across 150 installations worldwide, of which 500,000 are Air Force personnel. Installations and commands throughout the DoD benefit from AtHoc’s unified alerting approach, enterprise-wide architecture, reliability and ease of use.
AtHoc IWSAlerts will be deployed over SIPRNET and NIPRNET, providing emergency alerting over USAFCENT’s classified and unclassified networks. The system will also be integrated with Microsoft SharePoint to support data inputs and delivery outputs, leveraging local Microsoft SharePoint implementations. Failover support will also be implemented for redundancy purposes and continuity of operations. Cisco IP and telephony communication infrastructure is also used by AFCENT and can be leveraged by the deployment.
“The combination of AtHoc’s solution, which runs on the Microsoft stack, and Microsoft SharePoint provides a powerful alerting platform that manages the entire alerting process – from receiving threat information to disseminating alerts to the people who need them,” said Teresa Carlson, vice president, U.S. federal government, Microsoft Corp. “USAFCENT now has access to a powerful, highly versatile solution that enhances command-wide responses to emergencies. This type of situational awareness allows the command to enact the appropriate response to threats that can range from enemy attacks to extreme weather.”
“AtHoc is honored to be trusted by USAFCENT to provide emergency alerting to all of its personnel deployed in the most intense battlefronts,” said Guy Miasnik, president and CEO of AtHoc. “Our mission-tested systems have already been proven through many real-life emergencies, including protecting our Army troops in Iraq and Air Force personnel worldwide, and they are a perfect fit for USAFCENT’s needs. At the end of the day, it’s all about protecting lives by getting the word out as quickly as possible to troops wherever they are located.”
About AtHoc
AtHoc is the pioneer and recognized leader in providing enterprise-class, network-centric emergency notification systems to military, government and commercial organizations for physical security, force protection and personnel accountability. Millions of end users worldwide, in organizations such as the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, NASA, Microsoft, Boeing and PricewaterhouseCoopers rely on AtHoc’s unified management systems for their emergency alerting and critical communication needs. AtHoc has partnered with market leaders including Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Harris, Siemens, Avaya, Lockheed Martin and others to bring these notification solutions to the public and commercial markets.
For more information on AtHoc, please visit http://www.athoc.com.
Seattle, Wash - January 21, 2009 - NetMotion Wireless, a leading provider of mobile productivity and management software, today announced that the company has expanded into Europe with new subsidiaries in Germany and France. In addition, the company has appointed Mikael Taillepied and Ufuk Ergun to head new regional offices for the company. The company has been active in the United Kingdom for several years, and Stef Coetzee will continue to head United Kingdom and Northern European operations.
Today, NetMotion’s Mobile VPN (Virtual Private Network) software, Mobility XE, is utilized by more than 1,400 business and agencies around the globe to secure wireless connections to applications across wireless coverage gaps and data networks, while providing centralized management tools for IT administrators. Across Europe, the company’s Mobile VPN is utilized by a number of enterprises and agencies including Unilever PLC, the London Fire Brigade, the North Wales Police, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), South East Water, Saab Systems, the University of Oxford and L’Aeroports de Paris.
“We believe there is tremendous opportunity for our mobile productivity software in Europe where cellular penetration and wireless modem shipments match or exceed those in North America,” said Bob Hunsberger, president and CEO, NetMotion. “We’re proud to have Mikael, Ufuk, and Stef to lead our expansion overseas, where mobile workers can benefit from the increased productivity, security and network management our software delivers.”
New Appointments and Promotions
To head the new regional operations, NetMotion has appointed:
Mikael Taillepied, Director of Sales, Southern Europe
Mr. Taillepied joins NetMotion Wireless with 20 years experience in IT software & hardware across the networking and security space. Most recently, Mr. Taillepied lead European sales for Criston, a provider of IT & security management solutions where he established channel activity throughout Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and North Africa. Prior to that, he held the position of general manager for Southern Europe at Pointsec, a provider of authentication and device security for mobile devices. Mr. Tallipied has also held numerous sales roles with Extended Systems, Symantec, France Telecom and many other companies.
Ufuk Ergun, Director of Sales, Central and Eastern Europe
Mr. Ergun joins NetMotion Wireless with more than 18 years of international experience across management, leadership, sales and marketing. Prior to NetMotion, Mr. Ergun served as global account manager & deputy director Enterprise Sales for Citrix Systems, a leading provider of application delivery infrastructure. At Citrix he successfully co-developed the worldwide Global Account Program, where he also managed national relationships with Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Commerzbank and Bundesbank. Prior to joining Citrix, Mr. Ergun held the position of managing partner at LOGO Business Software GmbH, where he launched a German subsidiary. His previous experience also includes roles at Novell and EDS Electronic Data Systems.
Additional Information
For additional information on sales or prospective partnerships, please contact:
Central and Eastern Europe: +49 6174 256 393, centraleasterneurope@nmwco.com;
Southern Europe Sales: +33 615 49 40 40, southerneurope@nmwco.com; and
Corporate: (206) 691-5500, sales@nmwco.com.
About NetMotion Wireless
Based in Seattle, NetMotion Wireless’ software enables businesses and agencies to maintain and optimize connections to applications as their mobile workers move in and out of wireless coverage areas and across various networks. NetMotion’s award-winning Mobile VPN, Mobility XE, enhances mobile worker productivity at more than 1,400 of the world’s most respected organizations across multiple industries including utilities, healthcare, communications, public safety, local government, transportation and many others. For more information about NetMotion Wireless or its products, please visit www.netmotionwireless.com or call (206) 691-5500.
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