Press Release

SpectraRep™ Selected By State of Missouri to Deploy Next-Generation Emergency Alert System Statewide

AlertManager™ Will Provide Advanced Digital Upgrade to Manage and Issue Alerts and Warnings of At-Risk Populations and Locations

Chantilly, VA, May 6, 2008  -- SpectraRep, a provider of emergency management and first response data solutions, announced today that it has been awarded a project by the State of Missouri to deploy an advanced emergency alert system statewide. Under the award, SpectraRep will deploy its AlertManager™ system to provide Missouri with advanced public alert and warning capabilities for managing and issuing AMBER Alerts and to rapidly and reliably communicate Homeland Security and All Hazards warnings and instructions for at-risk populations and locations.

SpectraRep will provide an advanced, digital upgrade to Missouri’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the Alert Missouri program.  The new system will provide enhanced security, improved warning system coordination, and simplified operational procedures without disrupting existing EAS facilities or programs.  Missouri’s AlertManager system will support Homeland Security Alerts, All Hazards Alerts, and AMBER Alerts, intended to generate a timely notice to the public when a child is abducted.  

“Missouri started looking at expanding our emergency notification capabilities in light of certain limitations in the current method of distributing AMBER alerts around the state,” said Don Hicks, President of the Missouri Association of Broadcasters.  “We are looking forward to using this technology to provide more reliable and multiple ways of reaching the community with critical alerts and warning.”

The heart of Missouri’s next-generation EAS system will be the AlertManager Alert Server Core™ and Command Center™ interface that will allow authorities to enable complete and effective EAS messages, along with audio and other multimedia (such as video, maps, digital photos, documents, etc.). The AlertManager deployment will connect 56 broadcast locations to the Missouri State Highway Patrol as the AMBER Alert origination point.

“When completed, this system will provide an extensive and effective state network for the dissemination of digital CAP-based public alert and warnings direct to radio, television and cable sites across Missouri,” said Edward Czarnecki, Senior Vice President with SpectraRep.  “The feature-rich capabilities of AlertManager will provide Missouri with a truly next-generation emergency alert system.”

AlertManager is a patent-pending all-hazards emergency notification capability based on the latest version of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP).  The system is built as a network centric capability for government agencies, and provides secure multipath transmission via satellite, DTV data broadcast, and VPN networks.  For broadcast EAS at television stations and cable head-ends, the system allows officials to generate text-crawls and audio broadcasts of messages in real-time to warn the general public.  The system also provides a foundation for interoperability with other alerting systems, enabling authorities to deliver complete, consistent and coordinated warning messages to the public.