Enterprise instant messaging (IM) and real-time communications software developer WiredRed Software Corp. will next Monday introduce a one-way broadcast notification that lets companies, government agencies and schools to have instantaneous communications with their organizations.
The new e/pop Alert provides enterprises with a secure method of informing end users of impending emergencies, evacuation procedures, important meeting notices, network outages due to regular maintenance and general memorandum requiring one-way communications, among other events, WiredRed officials said.
According to WiredRed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder Allen Drennan, e/pop Alert was created based on customer feedback received after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.
“Not only are companies and government organizations turning to instant messaging and video conferencing solutions as inexpensive technology alternatives to travel, but many are also seeking ways to improve communications with their staff in order to protect their most valuable assets – the employees themselves,” Drennan said.
With e/pop Alert, companies and government agencies can send customized emergency messages, including embedded sound files that play instantly when the alert pops up on the client PC.
Security options include RSA for authentication, digital certificates and signing, as well as RC4, DES, Triple-DES and AES for encryption. All e/pop products also provide the ability to assign priority administration status to a group or groups of users in order to prevent spoofing, WiredRed also said.
E/pop Alert operates in a peer-to-peer or a distributed client/server environment. Server support includes Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Linux operating systems. The alert product also works within a company’s existing network infrastructure and integrates with NetWare NDS, Windows NT Domain, LDAP and ADS directories to let system administrators use current network group hierarchy as the basis of the presence-management system.
WiredRed’s e/pop Alert client will be available next Monday from $10 per seat for 100 users, with quantity discounts available. In addition, special discount programs are available for educational and non-profit organizations.
WiredRed is at least the second company in recent weeks to move into the emergency-alert field. Textgram said it is now building a wireless IM-style emergency text messaging alert system for use in the U.S. The system will allow state and federal emergency agencies to send out warnings about biological warfare, terrorist attacks, ecological disasters or any other type of critical emergency information to almost anyone with a mobile phone, officials said.
Franz Krachtus, founder of Textgram, says that text messaging is ideally suited in an emergency, because cell-phone service is “seldom interrupted during catastrophic events.” Text messages are carried over cell networks far more efficiently than phone calls, he said — they are sent as small bursts of data, and take up considerably less bandwidth than phone conversations.
Instant messaging also played a big role in helping people communicate during last month’s tragedy (full story).
Related Story:
Emergency Wireless Text System Being Built
Bob Woods is managing editor of InstantMessagingPlanet.com.
