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Network-based Emergency Notification System Deployed for the Louisiana Supreme Court and the 4th Circuit
Court of Appeal
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BURLINGAME, Ca. (January 30, 2008) AtHoc, Inc., the pioneer and
leader in network-centric emergency notification systems, today announced two courts within Louisiana’s state
judiciary have successfully deployed AtHoc IWSAlerts™ to provide emergency alerting to warn personnel in
response to emergencies. The Louisiana Supreme Court (which includes the Louisiana Judicial Administrator’s
Office) and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal are both located in a recently restored, historic courthouse in the
heart of the New Orleans French Quarter.
The two courts were initially looking for separate systems to answer their emergency notification needs.
After performing a comprehensive market study, they decided to consolidate efforts and find a single
system that could handle each court’s individual needs while also serving as an overarching solution
for alerting both courts. This centralized approach provided the courts with significant benefits,
including the ability to alert the courts together as well as manage each separately, reduced overall
procurement costs and lower ongoing maintenance and support overhead.
The deployment consisted of a single centralized instance of AtHoc IWSAlerts which contains a virtual private
system for both courts as well as for the Louisiana Judicial Administrator’s Office. This provides the courts
with the flexibility of sending alerts to their own personnel, while also allowing the facility security team to
alert all employees across the entire building when required.
“We purchased AtHoc IWSAlerts notification system as it greatly improved our pre-existing telephone and paging
systems,” said Tommy Anderson, Director of Security, Louisiana Supreme Court. “We can now reach all personnel in
the courts on their desktops in an average of one minute. Other delivery means are also used to ensure broad
reach, including SMS text messaging and phone calls. When an emergency occurs, triggering an alert from a single
console and achieving that type of response time is critical.”
The Louisiana courts began evaluating emergency warning systems in response to recent events, particularly
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A key requirement was the ability for multiple court operators to concurrently
manage and trigger alerts from a Web browser, whether in the building or remote, while reaching employees via
their desktop PCs, office phones, cell phones and BlackBerry devices.
The system is now in use to warn personnel, including judges, clerks and administrators, for a wide range of
emergency situations such as extreme weather, facility outages, fires and criminal acts of violence. Intrusive
alerts pop up on computer desktops, providing details about the emergency situation, including instructions for
action. Recipients can then acknowledge the alert and provide feedback which helps with personnel accountability.
“Louisiana has had more than its fair share of emergency scenarios in the past few years, and the judiciary
system is taking proactive steps to help protect court personnel as well as the general public,” said Simon
Berman, vice president of product marketing for AtHoc. “They have implemented a state of the art warning system
which will ensure quick notification and response when it matters most – when something can still be done to
protect people.”
About AtHoc
AtHoc is a 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, Hawaii State Civil Defense, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Boeing, PricewaterhouseCoopers and eBay rely on AtHoc's unified management systems for their emergency alerting and critical communication needs. AtHoc has partnered with market leaders including Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, Siemens, Avaya, Unisys and others to bring these notification solutions to the public and commercial markets.
For more information on AtHoc, please visit http://www.athoc.com
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