Desktop Alert Blog

Desktop Alert to Present To The President's Chief Technology Officer at TCIP 2010

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:20:00 GMT

Desktop Alert will speak with and present to Aneesh Chopra, Assistant to the President and Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science & Tech. Policy who is speaking at the OASIS Emergency Interoperability Demonstration.

This is a great honor and opportunity for the advancement of our nations alert recall automation infrastructure. Desktop Alert is honored by the invitation to attend and present to America's top security decision makers.

Desktop Alert was recently selected for our next generation alert and recall automation infrastructure. This system will integrate all of the Guards' 54 States and Territories, 88 Air Wings, and the Guards 146 locations including Headquarter elements. This contract represents the single largest deployment of an IP-based mass notification platform in U.S. Military history.

Desktop Alert is an OASIS Sponsor Level Member and recently demonstrated Jabcast XMPP solution to extend CAP Nationwide Emergency messages capability instantly to over 50 million instant messenger users in the U.S. alone with near real-time alert publications.

The 11th annual Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness Conference and Exposition highlights DOJ, DHS, and DoD's technologies, RDT&E investments, and training tools currently available and being developed for the emergency responder community, as well as provides a forum for emergency responders to discuss best practices and exchange information. With 1,500 attendees and 150 exhibits and demonstrations expected, this conference offers a unique opportunity for emergency responders, business and industry, academia, and local, tribal, state, and federal stakeholders to network, exchange ideas, and address common critical incident technology, preparedness, response and recovery needs, protocols, and solutions.

Supporters

Presented By:
Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Defense (DoD)

Sponsored By:
DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs’ National Institute of Justice
DHS's Science & Technology Directorate
DoD's Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs

OASIS Sponsor Level Members and Scenario Partners:

WSI

In Partnership With:

Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)

InterAgency Board For Equipment Standardization and Interoperability (IAB)

Interagency Council for Applied Homeland Security Technology (ICAHST)
International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM)

International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)

National Emergency Management Association (NEMA)

National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA)

The National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board (NBSCAB)

National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation

Details

When

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 8:30 AM - Thursday, February 4, 2010 5:00 PM
Eastern Time Zone

Where

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown

1201 Market Street

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107

215-625-2900

NEWS LINK: http://www.desktopalert.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138

The Winners Circle

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:32:00 GMT

I ran across an interesting article the other day written by mass notification aficionados Rick Wimberly & Lorin Bristow. The article: Where are the Notification Market Leaders?

My response to the article would have to be:

Well thanks for the article! It was passed onto our budget department who was originally petitioned for funding to become a Sponsor Level Member at OASIS. As to your question: “Where are the Notification Market Leaders?”

I would say that they are in every town, city and state across America and beyond. Of course there is some truth to your analysis in the sense that very often we do tend to always look for the “big players” to come in and redefine our markets. However, in regard to Mass Notification technologies -- it might be the case that this time – the mold has been broken. What is meant by that? Please allow me to explain. Mass Notification is an emerging market that is gaining more and more relevance in the world each day. However at the current time, the overwhelmingly obvious benefits to private -- or non public sectors -- are for lack of a better word, just not that obvious. Nevertheless, rest assured that as the corporate space becomes more and more aware of Mass Notification and its applications in Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity and other business critical areas, you can expect serious industry growth.

Rest assured that the folks already up to speed with the CAP protocols and participating in OASIS will have a healthy head start in reaching out to these new prospective customers – and engaging them! Remember, the true definition of interoperability is the ability to publish mass notification nationwide or worldwide with or without the title “mass notification leader”.

Our company Desktop Alert recently attended the CAP and EDXL Standards at OASIS Baltimore Emergency Interoperability Training Event in Baltimore. At that event were numerous vendors which represented a full spectrum/range of company size both big and small however; all companies were equal to the task in delivering the message! In a sense the OASIS Summit was in fact where the “Notification Market Leaders” were! Again, they led by demonstrating the ease of mass notification interoperability without the hindrance of carrying a title of “Notification Market Leader”.

Interoperable Coo-petition via Message-oriented middleware is the road to success with mass notification. The days of monopolistic practices for emergency communications have gone the way of Ma Bell -- such narcissistic business practices are counterproductive to the essence of interoperability, alienate business opportunities and fly in the face of the good will forged by organizations such as OASIS. Interoperability between mass notification vendors does not diminish business opportunities but rather it increases business opportunities.

Simply put, mom and pop can do business with AT&T or anyone else, and get the job done. There are many small operations that have a 99%+ server up-time capability thanks to SaaS data centers. This evolution is not a “success” equation based on the antiquated understanding of outdated corporate rules, but rather represent a paradigm shift, with significant upside in terms of affordability to the all important “Happy Customer”. (Yes, it’s almost silly to say paradigm shift these days, but I had to)

While premised-based solutions will always occupy a solid position in many organizations mass notification requirements, SaaS solutions via ratified open source standards will experience a dramatic spike in growth. Organizations in need of unified mass notification not capable of purchasing premised-based solutions will finally be provided with a low cost SaaS alternative. In the case of CAP emergency alert messaging, secure transmission of the information is also available at 128 bit encryption and up.

The very notion of a “mass notification leader” representing the pinnacle of success with organizations such as CAP is entirely contrary to the proliferation of interoperability. The gestation process has begun and OASIS is taking on new members regularly, which include Fortune 100 companies as well as mom and pop companies. The market leaders are in place – and soon they’ll assume their place in the winner’s circle.

Howard Ryan

DesktopAlert.Net

Desktop Alert Score Card: United States Military Academy at West Point

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:22:00 GMT

Over two years have elapsed since the Desktop Alert Mass Notification System was installed at United States Military Academy at West Point.

Today our engineering team met with the DOIM INTEL Division and reviewed the system, its usage and of course the report card. We were immediately informed that:

In emergencies, weather alerts and standard informational alerting Desktop Alert performed as expected.
Numerous operators of the Desktop Alert System informed us that the ease of use was arguably the most compelling feature of the system.
Desktop Alert was informed "your company has met and exceeded our expectations on support and we want you to know we appreciate it"

Desktop Alert received a score of E for excellent, the highest grade available to a vendor from United States Military Academy at West Point.

This was accomplished by our rapid incident management capability. It was noted by the DOIM that "on most support incidents the call to action by your team was met with swift support and resolution within hours of the request".

The Desktop Alert System at USMA is fully integrated with Communicator! NXT from DCC. Recently, Desktop Alert entered into an exclusive OEM agreement by DCC as a best-of-breed IP-based notification platform offering to the Department of Defense, Public Safety, Healthcare, Educational, Industrial and Commercial markets.

Today was a high point for our company and we are honored to serve and continue to serve this prestigious and iconic institution.

Everbridge Aware (formerly known as 3N) Selects Desktop Alert to Notify Students Worldwide

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:55:00 GMT

Desktop Alert has integrated with Everbridge Aware to offer another communication pathway to reach people during an emergency outside of standard instant messaging applications. Desktop Alert consolidates multiple warning systems enabling command operators to initiate emergency alerts to any warning devices via a single web-based interface.

The Everbridge Aware selection of Desktop Alert is a significant stride for our company to reach out to students with critical alerts. Everbridge Aware is the mass notification platform selected by VA TECH and numerous other prestigious learning institutions across the North American Continent and beyond. Believe it or not over 99.9% of schools do NOT have the ability to send alerts to student’s desktops. That’s an amazing statistic when one considers that most students are either in front of or near a computer!

Everbridge Aware recognized this and has decidedly taken a leadership role in extending mass notification to students by way of desktop alerts.

We are honored to be the selected ip-based mass notification platform by the North America’s leading provider or emergency alerts to students.

Desktop Alerts state-of-the-art mass notification capabilities are now a standard offering by Everbridge Aware.

DCC and Desktop Alert Announce Partnership to Expand Emergency Notification Capabilities

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:01:00 GMT

FRANKLIN, Tenn., WASHINGTON, DC (May 14, 2009) – DCC (Dialogic Communications Corp.), a PlantCML® company and global leader in emergency notification, and Desktop Alert, Inc., a leading industry provider of network-centric emergency notification systems, today announced the companies are working together to offer an expanded emergency notification solution integrating Desktop Alert’s network-centric technology with DCC’s The Communicator!® NXT. The integrated solution, exclusively available through DCC, leverages the strengths of each product to deliver audible and visible critical alerts to designated recipients during critical situations.

Globally deployed throughout the public and private sectors, The Communicator!® NXT emergency notification system provides list-based, multi-modal communication to quickly and expertly mobilize personnel, crisis action teams, volunteers and others. Desktop Alert, a best-of-breed, IP-based alert technology, provides visual alerts using existing computational infrastructure and business logic through a next-generation information architecture. Integration of the two solutions will enable the rapid dissemination of these audible and visible alerts upon activation of The Communicator!® NXT, further expanding an operation’s ability to alert personnel of potential hazards.

DCC and Desktop Alert share mutual customers in a wide range of industries across the defense, federal, municipal and commercial markets. Through this partnership, existing and future clients will realize the benefits of an integrated solution that provides alerting via all communications devices while reducing notification cycle completion time. Integration is made possible using DCC’s next-generation API (Application Programming Interface) to The Communicator!® NXT.

“For our customers, this relationship incorporates another means for effectively reaching out when time is of the essence and communication is essential,” said Scott Alfieri, DCC president.

Among the many benefits of deploying DCC’s emergency notification technology are: streamlined crisis communications management; efficient personnel, first responder and population alerting; enhanced personnel accountability and resource protection; and reduced lag time from initial notification to full response. Typical activations include military recalls, campus notifications and Amber Alerts.

“Desktop Alert and DCC will continue to build on the numerous crisis communications capabilities created by the integration of these two products,” said David Zadick, president of Desktop Alert. “Together we will offer our shared customers the security, ease of use, reliability, long-term sustainability and integration level they deserve.”

About DCC
DCC (Dialogic Communications Corp.), a PlantCML® company, is the global leader in emergency notification technology. Collectively, its on-premise and hosted solutions are used by hundreds of organizations, helping ensure their communications readiness for public safety, business continuity and homeland defense. Clients include government agencies, Fortune 500 corporations, healthcare providers, educators and U.S. military bases worldwide. DCC was established in 1982, and is headquartered in Franklin, Tenn. (a suburb of Nashville). For more information, visit www.dccusa.com.

About Desktop Alert, Inc.
Desktop Alert Inc. is an industry provider in network-centric emergency notification systems to military, government and commercial organizations for physical security and force protection. End users worldwide rely on Desktop Alert’s unified mass notification systems for their emergency alerting and critical communications needs. To learn more, visit www.desktopalert.net.

Contacts:

Tami Timperio
VP, Global Marketing Communications
PlantCML®, an EADS North America Company
Tel: 951.719.2423
Email: ttimperio@plantcml.com

My Military Inspiration, My Uncle I Never Met

admin — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:11:00 GMT

I grew up listening to stories from my father about my Uncle who was killed in Korea. He died at the young age of 21 in combat. Here is his Korean War Project Remembrance Link:

Remembering SGT HOWARD RYAN

NAVY CROSS
BRONZE STAR

7th Marine Regiment
I CO 3 BN

1st Marine Division

Marines

Hostile, Died (KIA)

Date Of Loss: October 27, 1952

Service Number: 1036624

EAST MEADOW, NY

Location of Loss: WESTERN OUTPOSTS

Born: May 31, 1929

Comments: Sergeant Ryan was a Squad Leader from Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. Five times he led patrols forward of the main battle line to gain valuable information about the enemy. On October 7, 1952 he singlehandedly attacked and destroyed enemy emplacements. Then, as he was reorganizing his squad, he was mortally wounded. Navy Cross. Born East Meadow, New York, hometown Bellmore, New York.

My Uncle was sending all of his money back to his mom to help support 5 kids at home in East Meadow NY because their father had vanished years earlier leaving a once wealthy family to the generosity of welfare for food and housing.

Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) Incorporates Desktop Alert to its Worldwide Warning and Surveillance System Group at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station

admin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:32:00 GMT

The Test Control Division using Desktop Alert, directs and controls the safe test and exercise configurations of all ITW/AA Systems for their customers including the President, Secretary of Defense, NORAD, USSTRATCOM, USNORTHCOM, AFSPC, and strategic and theater commanders.

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) February 6, 2009 -- Desktop Alert, Inc., a Premier Department of Defense Net-Centric Alert and Notification Technology Company, today announced that they have been chosen as the net-centric mass notification system to be used by the 721st Mission Support Group located in Cheyenne Mountain Colorado. The contract was awarded to FCN , a full service solutions provider and a woman-owned, small business serving the Federal Government and surrounding Washington DC Metro area, through their NASA SEWP (Solution for Enterprise-wide Procurement) contract, and it includes Desktop Alert Mass Notification products.

Desktop Alert DoD Certified

The 721st Mission Support Group, located at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, operates, maintains, secures, sustains, mobilizes, tests, and controls the worldwide warning and surveillance system for North America. Normally referred to as the Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment (ITW/AA) weapon system, it consists of airborne, land-based and space-based systems which sense and reports all activities in air and space.

The Test Control Division, directs and controls the safe test and exercise configurations of all ITW/AA Systems for their customers including the President, Secretary of Defense, NORAD, USSTRATCOM, USNORTHCOM, AFSPC, and strategic and theater commanders. The ITW/AA Mission impacts an extensive worldwide network of sensor sites, forward users and data processing sites responsible for missile warning, NUDET detection, air defense, space surveillance and space defense. Additionally, the Test Control Division controls and directs all supporting agencies necessary to provide resources and personnel required for safe and successful testing.

Desktop Alert is the primary Department of Defense net-centric mass notification platform used by the AFSPC. Our company has worked with the 721st Mission Support Group for over a year and we are honored by the selection for such a strategic AFSPC installation

With Desktop Alert now installed as the primary network notification alert system the 721st group will be able to react faster than ever before with rapid access to actionable intelligence thus making America safer.

"Desktop Alert is the primary Department of Defense net-centric mass notification platform used by the AFSPC. Our company has worked with the 721st Mission Support Group for over a year and we are honored by the selection for such a strategic AFSPC installation", said David Zadick, President Desktop Alert Inc.

"Our company is honored by the selection and continued implementation of Desktop Alert across the AFSPC Command. Desktop Alert has attained an average grade of E+ in all post performance evaluations of the Desktop Alert System across AFSPC networks for the past two years. As a company we continue to build on our successes as well as lessons learned from the past. The company mantra has been and continues to be Happy Customers", added Howard Ryan, CEO and Founder Desktop Alert Inc.

About Desktop Alert, Inc.:
Desktop Alert provides highly scalable enterprise-level, network-centric and telephony alerting systems for critical mass notifications, force protection preparedness, and critical communications. Desktop Alert enables delivery of audio-visual signals that comply with the Air Force's Full Spectrum Threat Response (FSTR) requirements. Desktop Alert provides enterprise-class, network-centric alerting systems for emergency notifications, force protection readiness, anti-terror warnings and critical communications.

###

Desktop Alert is a Trend Setting Middleware Mass Notification Technology

admin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:21:00 GMT

Developing and deploying communications software and equipment is getting easier and easier. Information sharing and management requirements continue to demand that networked environments deliver actionable intelligence and empirical data faster and at a lower cost.

Integrating commercial off the shelf (COTS) modules to retrieve and present data manipulated or otherwise has been viewed as a god send for meeting these demands. The Desktop Alert system was architected from the start with the integration of multiple technologies from multiple vendors in mind. The Desktop Alert multi-vendor, multi-technology platform architecture can significantly reduce the time, cost, and effort of deploying enterprise class integrated network software platforms and equipment.

The management of all data is a critical need for any enterprise operation and especially for those who rely on emergency notification systems. Notification technology ensures that organizations accurately target individuals or groups of users in times of emergency and reach them via multiple means of personal communication including desktop, land phone, mobile phone, pager, speaker systems, digital signage, handheld radios, BlackBerry, email and more.

The Desktop Alert architecture delivers an API web services interface as well as adapter applications (applications highly sculpted to a vendors needs which at times enables vendor integration with little to no vendor code disruption) to identify business rules, facilitate and corral both real-time and latency-based data for execution of desired functionality and resulting report data.

3rd party software and hardware integration is easier then most companies realize. The trend is towards "adapter" applications which essentially equate to middleware designed by the hosting application vendor for rapid integration. Such integrations can often times be accomplished in a single day.

Desktop Alert Inc. Mass Notification Platform Attains DIACAP Certification and Approval to Operate (ATO) On SIPRNet Networks for Use in Iraq Theater of Operations (ITO)

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:20:00 GMT

Desktop Alert Inc. Becomes the First CENTCOM Accredited Network-Centric Emergency Notification Platform with Approval to Operate (ATO) on SIPRNet Networks and now operating in IRAQ. This COTS capability is ready for immediate deployment.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 23, 2008 -- Desktop Alert, Inc. a Premier Department of Defense commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Single Sign-On (SSO) Net-Centric Alert and Notification Technology Company today announces that the company has successfully passed testing under the direction of CENTOM in IRAQ. The Desktop Alert Mass Notification Platform is now available for implementation throughout the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM).

Desktop Alert can deliver thousands of pop-up messages to NIPRNet and SIPRNet with recorded information to computer screens within seconds as needed. Desktop Alert enables the delivery of audio-visual signals that comply with and provide highly effective critical response, readiness and situational awareness operation capabilities for all Multi-National Forces in IRAQ.

"Desktop Alert is now approved and available for implementation throughout the theater. The Desktop Alert ATO and DIACAP milestones document to all CENTCOM networks that Desktop Alert has met the standard process which requires all Department of Defense systems to achieve and maintain their Approval to Operate (accreditation). Having accompanied our engineering team to IRAQ, I personally witnessed the professional commitment and thorough nature of the evaluation and testing process which took several months but the effort was well worth it. Presently, Desktop Alert is providing the only such notification system in IRAQ to have attained these accreditation's. Our company is honored to have the responsibility to provide the first such capability to protect our troops with such an outstanding net-centric emergency notification platform. Desktop Alert now provides enterprise-class network-centric alerting systems for emergency notifications, force protection, situational readiness, anti-terror warnings and critical communications in theater every day." said David Zadick, President, Desktop Alert Inc.

About Desktop Alert, Inc.:

Desktop Alert is multi-media, GIS enabled mass notification platform used to deliver rich media such as live surveillance video, images, audio files, giant voice, interactive Flash files and other applications to desktops and other devices such as telephones, cell phones, e-mail and mobile devices. The Desktop Alert Emergency Mass Notification System utilizes "Actionable Intelligence"; the ability to implement intelligent methods, functions, and triggers that interact with and bring crucial data to and from end-users based on end-user and/or management's predefined business network rules and settings. Desktop Alert enables and provides all of the components needed to securely execute controlled net-centric information management and content distribution.

6 REASONS NOT TO USE A BROWSER POPUP WINDOW FOR DESKTOP NOTIFICATION

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:34:00 GMT

When considering a purchase for a desktop alert type mass notification system avoid a system (or designing a system) that employs the usage of a browser pop-up window as the alert agent.

REASONS

End User Key Macros will close the window (Alt-F4 etc)
The user can minimize the alert
Browser Pop-Up blockers will block alert
Window can lose UPPERMOST window status by something as simple as a mouse click on a document and the user will not see the alert
The pop-up is reliant on scripting which opens a myriad of issues all which may result in the pop-up window not opening at all.
Browsers crash

There are many other reasons. This is a highly ineffective and unreliable method.

U.S. Air Force Space Command Expands Usage of Desktop Alert at Malmstrom Air Force Base

admin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:46:00 GMT

U.S. Air Force Space Command Expands Usage of Desktop Alert at Malmstrom Air Force Base

Joint Press Release from Team Notification. Desktop Alerts publishes mission-critical interactive alerts to thousands of military personnel for real world scenarios, emergencies and urgent message instruction.

For Immediate Release

CHATHAM, N.J./PRWEB/October 2, 2008 --- Desktop Alert, Inc. a Premier Department of Defense Net-Centric alert and notification technology alliance today announces the award of a network based alerting system acquisition supporting Air Force Space Command’s 341st Missile Wing today. The U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) has expanded its usage of the Desktop Alert Mass Notification System at Malmstrom Air Force Base located in Cascade County, Montana. In support of the 341st Missile Wing’s command and control mission the award has been competitively attained by Team Notification’s FSPS Inc., a Colorado Veteran-Owned small business and alliance member with Desktop Alert. A key aspect of this win is as a result of Desktop Alerting architecture driving another technology alliance member, Dialogic Communications Corporation’s Communicator NXT in an interoperable modality to accomplish key force protection notification scenarios. Dialogic Communications Corporation’s Communicator NXT is the most prevalent telephony mass notification system installed at DoD locations worldwide.

The Desktop Alert Enterprise Edition Server will guarantee alerts are served to thousands of personnel and machines with critical content delivery to desktops in less then one minute in most scenarios. Desktop Alert is built on the Microsoft .Net Platform. Desktop Alert's open systems architecture will continue to manage the fabric of rapidly evolving alert, notification and response technologies. Desktop Alert integrates with numerous 3rd party vendor technology and our focus is to integrate with and support customers existing mass notification capabilities such as giant voice siren systems, public address, intrusion and alarm systems, surveillance systems and more.

Malmstrom officially entered the ICBM age with the activation of the 341st Strategic Missile Wing (341 SMW) from Dyess AFB, Texas, where it had previously operated as the 341st Bombardment Wing. The 341 SMW and Malmstrom AFB became the nation's first "Ace in the Hole," dubbed by President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The wing has Minuteman missiles spread across 23,000 square miles (60,000 km²) of Montana. The 10th, 12th, and 490th Strategic Missile Squadron were equipped with the Minuteman II, and the 564th has the Minuteman III.

"Desktop Alert was previously installed by Peterson Air Force Base Space Command as the primary ip-based notification system for the entire base a few years ago. The system has since been used hundreds of times for exercises and emergencies at the base. Recently the platform has attained an evaluation grade of "E" for excellent after several years of usage at the base. Shortly after the Peterson deployment Desktop Alert was installed for mass notification usage at The United States Air Force Academy and Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado. To date, Desktop Alert has never lost a single bid to the United States Air Force. The best product and best value is still the number one criteria for selection within the United States Military and Desktop Alert is highly honored by the selection and will continue to provide state-of-the-art and affordable mass notification technology for The United States Armed Forces", said Howard Ryan, CEO, Desktop Alert Inc.

Desktop Alerts' client application is built on Microsoft's Internet Explorer Browser and as such the client application never needs updating now or in the future by Desktop Alert in order to sustain functionality. This is crucial as the alert system is only as good as the client application which delivers the alert to a workstation or laptop. Microsoft handles all browser updates and a such to date AND in its entire company history Desktop Alert has never had to update its client applications browser technology for military networks. This saves the Department of Defense an immense amount of money on unnecessary bloated recurring maintenance contracts and the U.S. Military response to our technology is indicative of their acknowledgment of Desktop Alerts affordable mass notification platform. For example: McGuire Air Force Base has never ever needed an update to the Desktop Alert client application by Desktop Alert. The whole process is managed automatically by Microsoft automatically at no charge!

Alerts are created using the web-based Desktop Alert administration interface. The interface employs an embedded html editor which enables the publisher of the alert to create alerts and to preview and publish using rich text media if desired. External applications easily share data and commands with the Desktop Alert Platform Architecture, via an easy to a use web-services application programming interface (API).

Templates may be created using the Desktop Alert administration interface. Alert format and content can be created and saved as a template for rapid future usage. Templates can be quickly employed for publication automatically based on predefined scenarios or manually by any authorized alert publisher resulting in rapid alert publication.

Desktop Alerts web-based management system provides three levels of access to the alert interface that include administrator, moderator and end-user. These accounts are created automatically based on the existing organizational unit (OU) structure of the Active Directory.

About Desktop Alert, Inc.

The Desktop Alert Emergency Mass Notification System utilizes "Actionable Intelligence." The ability to in-place intelligent methods, functions and triggers that interact with and bring crucial data to and from end-users based on end-user and/or management's predefined business rules and settings. Desktop Alert enables and provides all of the parts needed to execute controlled information management and content distribution. The United States Air Force seeks the best mass notification technologies available. To date, The United States Air Force has not nominated a "de facto" standard for any mass notification platform.

About FSPS

FSPS, Inc., is a certified project management consultant to the commercial and federal research and development (R&D) sectors with over 20 years experience in systems-based Project Management. Members of FSPS are internationally recognized project management researchers and conference speakers, and have appeared in leading professional management trade magazines. Members of FSPS are on the Board of Directors of the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (www.asapm.org), as well as the Licensing Executive Society's - Software Licensing Task Force (http://www.usa-canada.les.org/).

CONTACT:
David Zadick (dz@desktopalert.net)
Desktop Alert
601 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE
WASHINGTON D.C. 20004
202-684-6801

KEYWORDS: geographical information system, desktop alert, mass notification system, group desktop alert, desktop publishing, desktop marketing, Navy communications, Marines communications, desktop notification technology, emergencies, message, instruction, Command Center, desktop notification, integrated voice recognition, air force communications, army communications
SOURCE: Desktop Alert, Inc.

Desktop Alert Client Application | No Support Costs Ever! Why? Read More.....

admin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:50:00 GMT

Desktop Alerts' client application is built on Microsoft's Internet Explorer Browser and as such the client application never needs updating now or in the future by Desktop Alert in order to sustain functionality.

This is crucial as the alert system is only as good as the client application which delivers the alert to a workstation or laptop.

Microsoft handles all browser updates and a such to date AND in its entire company history Desktop Alert has never had to update its client applications browser technology for military networks.

For example: McGuire Air Force Base has never ever needed an update to to the Desktop Alert client application by Desktop Alert.

The whole process is managed automatically by Microsoft automatically at no charge!

Most if not all other products on the market require updates to sustain operation of proprietary desktop alert client applications. Further, Desktop Alert provides all source code of the client application to its clients. The client is a mere wrapper application which has Microsoft Internet Explorer embedded.

This approach avoided equates to additional support costs AND puts at risk the operational capability of the client application itself.

The lack of update requirements with the Desktop Alert client application has sustained our companies values and vision which state that the best software is software that always works without any additional cost(s).

Our track record with the U.S. Military corroborates these views. McGuire Air Force Base and other military installations have never spent a single dollar on client application upgrades since day one of our first DoD contract.

Our client application being based entirely (100%) on Microsoft Internet Explorer insures to the customer that the Windows Platforms works with the Desktop Alert client application from an authentication and integration standpoint. This benefits the customer as new emerging technologies will work within the client application as Microsoft updates the machines browser. Recently, Microsoft Silverlight was used in a Desktop Alert client. Because Microsoft manages the browser updates. The functionality was automatic. All without an update from our company.

Additional benefits to the customer include the fact that clients can utilize website scripts that have already been created for use on the clients website. Those scripts can be incorporated into the desktop alert itself since the desktop alert client is in essence Microsoft Internet Explorer.

An example of this might be a data collection page on a website such as a comments page/form submission.

That page and script could be cut and pasted directly into Desktop Alerts WYSIWYG html-enabled editor for publication to end-users resulting in data collection from end-users to data repositories, Blackberry's or other data storage mediums.

Because of the Desktop Alert client applications IE architecture, the following list is a mere sampling of the applications capability:

send video alerts
embed flash objects
embed Microsoft Excel documents
embed Microsoft Word documents
embed Microsoft PowerPoint documents
embed jpeg, gif, png and other image formats
embed animated gif formats
embed data collection web pages with custom java/vb scripts
embed Microsoft Virtual Earth GIS Technology!
embed html-enabled chat platforms
embed audio alerts, GIANT VOICE ALERTS
and much much more

If you can do it in a web browser, you can do it in Desktop Alert!

This is the value proposition.

Desktop Alert : Then and Now

admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:23:00 GMT

I usually do not post twice in a day but wanted to bring over this video interview between Microsoft Regional Director Stephen Forte and myself which really captures in a nutshell what desktop alert is about. It's about 30 minutes but an excellent resource as the unscripted session delves into the beginnings of the internet itself and explains the weave of events and technologies which took place that led to the eventual formation of Desktop Alert.

IP-Based Mass Notification Proliferates

admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:07:00 GMT

http://www.desktopalert.net

Unified intelligence, actionable intelligence and situational awareness are critical processes within the United States Military 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The success of a mission or exercise is totally reliant on an effective chain of command and its deployment capability of effective communications.

The United States Military has always been a leader in its embrace, support and utilization of information technology for the warfighter machine and that trend continues. The military is now utilizing innovative communications systems that less than 10 years ago were totally unimaginable.

Enterprise implementations of ip-based alerting platforms at many military sites worldwide have sprung up and enabled command leadership to instantly notify all personnel equipped with computer workstations, mobile laptops, pagers, Blackberry's, RF devices, loud speaker systems and telephones with intelligently routed unified information.

With the advent of notification platforms operating on ip-based networks within minutes thousands or even millions of nodes on the network can receive intelligently routed unified information. Unified communications have taken center stage within corporate and industrial organizations too who seek to bolster general communications and mitigate emergency scenarios. The good news is that some of these systems are available for costs comparable to the cost of a few in office copy machines.

Rather than manage and administer to the dissemination of critical, secret or top secret information across multiple publication channels with separate interface inputs, web-based administration consoles now corral and manage all notifications within a single interface.

The Desktop Alert 4.0 interface solution works for the U.S. Army in both small and large scale deployments based on requirements. For example, an administrator at The United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA), New York can alert all personnel on base with emergency or non-emergency situational data. In a recent past performance analysis conducted by USMA the Desktop Alert 4.0 system attained an E grade (Excellent) based on tests, exercises and actual installation emergencies during 2008. The USMA is protecting tomorrow’s leaders today.

The United States Army Garrison HQ At Heidelberg Germany has now in-placed Desktop Alert 4.0 with a capability to notify over 40,000 personnel using the system in Europe.
Peterson Air Force base Command, Colorado has utilized Desktop Alert for over two years for sending alerts across the entire network to all personnel with resounding success and most recently the Multi-National Force-Iraq at COB Speicher procured Desktop Alert for usage in battle zones for emergency alerting, personnel recall and personnel accountability.

The implementation of ip-based notification technology has also reduced communication costs dramatically. None more so evident in that of the reduction of costs associated with premised based auto-dialer solutions. In the old days the best way to communicate was with a phone call. Making 10,000 phone calls instantly equated to spending a fortune on telephones, lines, clunky and prohibitively priced auto-dialer servers and substantial money allocations for recurring maintenance support for these legacy systems. Whereas the costs to make such calls instantly could costs millions of dollars, the cost can now be reduced to a fraction of the original and less effective cost by utilizing ip-based notification technology.

Ex:
A desktop alert can be published to 10,000 desktops instantly with one mouse click or automatically. The Desktop Alert 4.0 accountability report indicates that only 8500 of the messages were actually seen or "engaged" by the end-user. The resulting 1500 user’s information is then rolled up into a report and sent to the premised based auto-dialer which then has the task of making 1500 calls as opposed to 10,000 calls it would have had to make if the desktop alert capability was non-existent.

Thus there is clear and unambiguous proof that unified communications are not only bolstered but the more communication requirements demanded the lesser the resulting cost. This is a departure from notification platforms that while reliable, restricted maximum capability due to staggering costs.

IP-Based technology is also a doorway to new and undiscovered technologies. Ip-based desktop alerting is now available utilizing a newly released GIS capability where an administrator or operator of the Desktop Alert Platform can use Microsoft Virtual Earth to select a named area of interest (NAI) with polylines to a map and quickly send an alert.

The resulting synopsis is that ip-based notification technology is bolstering communications while bringing the cost to do so down as well as opening new doorways to new and exciting technological capabilities.

Desktop Alert Establishes Washington D.C. Presence

admin — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Desktop Alert has established a office presence in Washington D.C. located at:

Desktop Alert Inc.
601 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington D.C. 20004

Customers in the D.C. Area can contact Desktop Alert at 202-684-6801.

The new office represents an expansion of Desktop Alert's Federal Division Sales and Support teams to serve our expanding clientele base in the nations capital, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

The sales team is available between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST.

Support is available 24x7 both on-site and by e-mail support.

E-mail support for Maryland, Virginia and Washinton D.C. is:

DCsupport@desktopalert.net