PhoneTop : News : 07/20/2004

AAC News

Federal Computer Week Publishes Article about VoIP and PhoneTop.
July 20, 2004

Vienna, Virginia –AAC Inc., a leading provider of network engineering, convergence technologies, information assurance and IP Communications applications solutions, today announced that the firm’s PhoneTop AMBER Alerts solution is discussed in this week’s edition of Federal Computer Week. The FCW article, entitled “VoIP’s second act” covers a number of innovative implementations of applications on IP Telephones that enhance physical security and communications effectiveness. AAC’s popular PhoneTop AMBER Alerts implementation at the Town of Herndon, Virginia is discussed as excerpted below.

Grass-roots alerts Officials in Herndon, Va., are using VOIP in other safety applications. The PhoneTop Amber Alerts program, created by AAC Inc., broadcasts notices about child abductions to any phone or computer connected to the town's IP network, which is based on products from Cisco Systems Inc. This capability expands the reach of the previous system, which relied on messages posted at the Amber Alerts Web site or faxes sent to police or local TV and radio stations. "We thought it natural to move to phones vs. using computers that might not always be turned on," said Bill Ashton, director of information services for the town. The application sends alerts targeted to Herndon-area ZIP codes. Audible alerts sound on phones. Information about victims and possible abductees appears on phone LCDs and remains until the subscriber acknowledges the alert. Any municipal employee can receive the messages, including field personnel, which provides greater awareness of an abduction among officials. "We have five to six times more field personnel than [we do] police, [personnel] who are out in the area collecting trash, working on road crews or doing building inspections," Ashton said. "If we didn't have VOIP, we probably would not be distributing alerts" to employees who are not law enforcement officials. Operational since last October, the application hasn't been called into action. "We hope it never goes off," he said. "Nevertheless, it's a wonderful insurance policy." Ashton said he hopes to expand the town's alert system so public workers can receive weather warnings or news about crimes in progress. In a variety of ways, VOIP is becoming a safe technology choice.