As part of the process, district administrators and staff reevaluated all infrastructure elements and their approach to campus safety, selecting AtlasIED IPX technology to modernize their intercom, audio announcements, and emergency communications systems.

The district began renovating in phases, prioritizing schools based on the state of the school buildings and the level of urgency of repairs. Before renovations, the schools in the district used similar audio communications technologies that had been in use for 10-20 years, including the public address (PA) system, clocks and blue light systems for emergencies.

However, the systems were siloed and did not integrate. During routine use, such as all-school announcements at the beginning of school days, the system functioned as needed, but during drills, the number of systems in operation caused the schools challenges.

“With the old system, when we conducted a lockdown drill, school staff needed to activate the different systems manually, which created steps and more possibilities for human error,” says Matt Erwin, director of facilities for North Syracuse Central Schools. Erwin manages maintenance and operations, plus security, health and safety, and the capital work for the district.

AtlasIED IPX Series for Campus Audio & Communication System

The district had two primary goals when upgrading the campus audio and communications systems: to improve the audio quality and find a plan to increase the speed at which a school could react and contact first responders during an emergency. They wanted to achieve these goals without having to install a system that was too complicated for staff and personnel.

Because the district used a Cisco phone system, Erwin and his team wanted a platform that integrated with these devices. As they researched and discussed options, their partners at Day Automation, a building automation and security solution provider, introduced them to AtlasIED, which they eventually chose as their long-term audio and communications solution. The AtlasIED IPX Series met all of the criteria for the district.

AtlasIED’s IPX Series features a range of communication endpoints that interconnect. The IPX endpoints integrate multiple functions into single products, including loudspeakers, two-way microphones, flashers, and an LED display for a clock, date, or other text-based messages that can be updated in real-time during an emergency.

Installing IPX Endpoints at Bear Road and Smith Road Elementary School 

Karl W. Saile Bear Road Elementary, known simply as Bear Road Elementary, became the district’s first school to install a new audio and communications system. Originally built in 1958, Bear Road Elementary was one of the district’s oldest buildings. During the Bear Road project, the school renovated half the building at a time to avoid a full closure and completely modernized the interior and infrastructure to accommodate staff and student needs.

The team at Day Automation identified locations for IPX endpoints throughout the school and ran Ethernet cable to each site in preparation to connect the endpoints. The IPX endpoints are Power over Ethernet (PoE+)-enabled, receiving power and network signals through the same IT network the school uses to deliver Internet access. The IPX platform helped simplify the installation process for integrators by reducing the number of cable types needed.

Another NSCSD school, Smith Road Elementary, began its retrofit project in 2022 to update various technologies, including its audio and communications technology systems, and upgrade building infrastructure. Working around class schedules to avoid disrupting students, the school expanded and updated its campus IT network and created plans to locate IPX endpoints.

Once the construction teams pulled Ethernet cabling to predetermined locations in both schools, the contractor teams began installing IPX endpoints, including the dual-sided IP-DDS endpoint mounted from side walls and hung over high-traffic areas like hallways.

They also added IP-SDMF indoor wall-mount endpoints in classrooms, the main office, the cafeterias, the gymnasiums, nurses office, and all rooms to ensure comprehensive building coverage. On the ceilings, the district installed the IP-8SM in multiple locations, which offer a loudspeaker and an omnidirectional microphone to allow two-way communication and monitoring from the speaker location to any PC or phone handset.

Related: How Mass Notification is Evolving to Manage Emergencies

Mass Communications through Singlewire and IPX Devices  

The IPX Series also helped NSCSD incorporate campus safety capabilities with the help of InformaCast Mass Notification Software from Singlewire. Using InformaCast, during an emergency, designated school personnel can initiate the software from a mobile device wherever they are on or off campus. The software then instantaneously sends text messages to faculty, students, parents’ mobile devices, alerts law enforcement, and activates attention-grabbing audio communication, flashing visual alerts and LED text messages on the installed IPX devices throughout campus.

Also, using InformaCast, the IP-8SM ceiling speakers can be configured to allow first responders to communicate with people near the loudspeaker or listen in to that area. The speakers can be critically important when personnel, students, or perpetrators barricade themselves in classrooms or other rooms.

When connected to InformaCast, the loudspeakers become a critical two-way hands-free communications tool for law enforcement or school personnel to deliver directions, provide or receive real-time updates near the speak location, or listen to activities within a space.  The loudspeakers are especially important when staff, students, or perpetrators barricade themselves in classrooms or other rooms.

The district has implemented new routine and emergency safety procedures in the schools with InformaCast and IPX due to the upgraded capabilities offered by the technology. It has begun to train staff regularly to help them become more familiar with operating the equipment. Training staff for both routine operation and operating the system during an emergency when people are under much more stress has the potential to lead to human error. This is why automating the system using pre-recorded messages offered via InformCast can help reduce the chance of human error during a real incident.

While the expectation is that much of the system’s use will be for routine daily announcements, InformaCast software helps automate many of the formerly manual steps in the older system’s procedures.

“Gone are the days when we had to find a panic button or go to a specific location to access the PA system,” says Erwin. “The new AtlasIED systems give us much more functionality at every point within the building. Based on the successful installation at Bear Road and Smith Road, we now look at mass notification across the entire district differently.”

A Better, Safer Experience 

From the district’s experience at Bear Road Elementary and Smith Road Elementary, it plans to install IPX and InformaCast throughout the rest of the district school buildings. As plans develop and ongoing training continues at the schools currently outfitted with IPX and InformaCast, Erwin and his team are eager for additional school buildings to use the new technology and create a better and safer experience district-wide for the students and staff moving forward.

Click ‘View Slideshow’ to see additional photos of the district’s IPX technology upgrade at Bear Road Elementary and Smith Road Elementary schools.

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on November 6, 2023. It has since been updated for My TechDecisions’ audience.

The post North Syracuse Central School District Streamlines Communications with AtlasIED IPX Technology appeared first on My TechDecisions.

When the awards program was created, though, no one could have imagined all the headwinds that integrators would face in a year like 2023 — namely, continued supply-chain snarls, multi-decade-high inflation, and a labor shortage. Thus, if ever there was a time to pay close attention to our BEST Award honorees and consider how you can benefit from their excellence, now is that time.

As opposed to operating the BEST Awards in a “crowd-sourced” way, CI relies on a panel of unbiased judges who have no affiliation with or connection to the candidates. Each judge assesses nominees independently, thus ensuring that each one is empowered to exercise their own judgment, free of undue influence.

For every candidate, judges consider three separate metrics: a product’s most important functional features; the benefits the product provides to the integrator; and the product’s design and/or technical innovation. Thus, judges’ perspective on each nominee is well-rounded, reflecting a mix of specs and tangible business value.

Dan Ferrisi, editor-in-chief of Commercial Integrator, says, “The past 12 months have been equal parts challenging and opportune for the commercial AV integration channel. Despite escalating labor costs, interest-rate hikes and general economic tumult, integrators have seized on society’s desire to enjoy communal spaces and communal experiences, all of which must be enhanced by AV technology. The BEST Awards represent CI’s best effort to spotlight the technology tools that make those experiences indelible.”

Ferrisi continues, “In the slideshow that follows, you’ll see some of the very best hardware, software, services and integrator resources that our industry has unveiled. Although our panel of independent judges was charged with choosing just one winner per category, I want to commend every BEST Award nominee for reflecting the very best of the art, science and craft of AV. Every nominee deserves recognition and praise, and I want to commend each one.”

Without further ado, enjoy this spotlight of BEST Award winners. And don’t forget to start thinking about what products in your pipeline might be good candidates for the 2024 BEST Awards!

2023 BEST Award Winners:

Audio/Video

Assistive-Listening Devices
Listen Technologies
ListenWIFI

Audio Components & Processors
Bluesound Professional
BCS300 Network Streaming Ceiling Speaker

Audio Conferencing Solutions
Shure
MXA902 Integrated Conference Ceiling Array

Audio Distribution Systems
AtlasIED
Atmosphere AZMP8

Collaboration
Crestron Electronics, Inc.
AirMedia Connect Adaptor

Conference/Classroom Projectors
Epson America, Inc.
Epson PowerLite 810E Extreme Short Throw with 4K Enhancement

Digital Signage Hardware
Sony Electronics
BRAVIA BZ40L Series Professional Displays

Digital Signage Software
Korbyt
Korbyt Machine Learning Broadcast

Interactive Whiteboards
LG Business Solutions USA
LG CreateBoard (Model TR3DK)

Large-Venue Projectors
Digital Projection
HIGHlite Satellite MLS Reference

Matrix Switchers
BZBGEAR
9×9 4K UHD Seamless HDMI Matrix Switcher/Video Wall Processor/MultiViewer Over Cat5/6/7 with Scaler/IR/Audio/IP and RS-232

Outdoor Displays
Samsung Electronics
Outdoor LED Signage (Model Name: XHB Series), including XHB All-in-One P10

Pan/Tilt/Zoom Cameras
Sony Electronics
SRG-A40 and SRG-A12 PTZ Cameras

Specialty AV Cables, Interconnects & IR Extenders
Comprehensive Connectivity Company
Integrator Series USB Cables

TVs/Video Monitors
Sharp/NEC
NEC MultiSync M751

Video Components & Processors
Xi’an NovaStar Tech Co., Ltd.
CX80 Pro

Videoconferencing/Telepresence Solutions
Jabra
Jabra PanaCast 50 Video Bar System

Video Distribution Systems
Audinate
Dante AV-H

Videowall Solutions
Sony Electronics
Crystal LED BH and CH-series Displays

Building Enhancements

Power Conditioning, Surge Suppression, & Energy Solutions
LynTec
PDS-12 Sequencing Relay Panel

Control & Automation

Large-Scale Control Systems
Xi’an NovaStar Tech Co., Ltd.
CX80 Pro

Touchscreens
Biamp
Apprimo Touch 8i

Dealer/Installer Aids

Cabinets, Furniture, Racks, Mounts & Cases
Mount-It! PRO
MI-20511 Jupiter Zavus Direct-View LED Wall Mount with Trim Kit

Case Study

Epiphan Video
NC State Case Study

Installation Tools & Testers

Liberty
Arranger AVoIP web-based Wizard

Project Management & Design/Web Software

D-Tools, Inc.
System Integrator V20

Training, Consulting, & Publications/Business Services

Exertis Almo
The Exertis Almo E4 Experience

Networking & Communications

Network Management Solutions

Ethereal
Big Dog Power PR-R13PI Intelligent Power Distribution Unit

Security

Mass Notification Emergency Communication
Singlewire Software
InformaCast with Visitor Aware

Surveillance Storage/Management Solutions

Axis Communications, Inc.
AXIS Camera Station S1296 Rack Recording Server

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on June 23, 2023. It has since been updated for My TechDecisions’ audience.

The post Announcing Commercial Integrator’s 2023 BEST Award Winners appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Engineered with automation, artificial intelligence and touchless control, Atmosphere combines digital audio processors, amplifiers, graphical user interfaces, programming software and controls to set a new operational and performance standard for digital audio systems.

Designed to be simple to install and easy to operate, the platform offers the modularity, scalability, and quality performance required to support the audio needs of a wide range of commercial applications, including restaurants, bars, hotels, school campuses, houses of worship and retail establishments.

“The introduction of these new hardware products and the latest software represent another important milestone and highlights the continued innovation of the Atmosphere platform,” says Tom Lureman, director of product management at AtlasIED. “The Atmosphere platform has transformed the way our customers integrate audio into a variety of environments, like hospitality. These latest products bring even more capabilities and value to support their clients’ needs.”

Audio Processing and Amplification in One

Building upon the foundation of the Atmosphere AZM series of signal processors, the new Atmosphere AZMP4 (4-zone) and AZMP8 (8-zone) add built-in premium amplification to help customers consolidate products in an audio rack and streamline system integration.

The AZMP4 is powered by a single 600W 4-channel amplifier module while the AZMP8 provides 1200W of total power. Any AZMP4 or AZMP8 individual channel can be software configured to provide different wattages. For example, if a restaurant has several zones but one has more speakers, an installer can use the AZMP to divide the power to better suit a zone with more or less speakers.

Multi-zone Paging Station Accessory

AtlasIED also unveiled the Atmosphere X-ZPS, an advanced multi-zone paging station accessory natively compatible with AtliasIED AZM and AZMP processors. Like all Atmosphere accessories, the X-ZPS is plug-and-play using CAT5e cable and daisy-chainable with other accessories up to 1,000 feet. With a 4.3-inch touchscreen display for easy Zone, Group, or All Call paging using the included premium gooseneck microphone, it can also be configured as a full Atmosphere system controller with access to features including zone volume, source select, message recall, scene select and bell schedule.

Atmosphere 3.0

AtlasIED also launched its latest major software update for the Atmosphere platform, Atmosphere 3.0. Available for AtlasIED AZM audio processors and the new AZMP combination audio processors with built-in amplifiers, the Atmosphere 3.0 update builds upon the embedded intelligence for the system, now allowing for continuous monitoring and supervision of system health and performance.

A new Self-Test feature measures system performance over time and provides notifications of any degradation of loudspeaker load. Additionally, Atmosphere 3.0, introduces soundmasking as another feature of this powerful platform. Used in corporate, healthcare/ clinical, and other settings, sound masking helps cover speech for enhanced speech privacy and reduce distracting office noise for increased focus and productivity.

The Atmosphere AZMP8, AZMP4, X-ZPS, and the 3.0 software will be available in early 2023. The Atmosphere 3.0 software update can be downloaded when released.

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on January 31, 2023. It has since been updated for My TechDecisions’ audience.

The post AtlasIED Unveils New Atmosphere Digital Audio Control and Processing Hardware appeared first on My TechDecisions.

DO

1. Look at Multiple Solutions

Many vendors will claim they have a mass notification solution, but not all tools are created equal. Some only send SMS text messages and push notifications. Some have limited ability to integrate with other technology. Some include incident management capabilities while others require organizations to make an additional investment in a separate solution. Researching different solutions will make it easy to spot differences to help make the right choice.

2. Bring in Other Departments

Too often, the responsibility of selecting mass notification software will fall on one person or department. The problem is that different departments may have different goals they are trying to achieve and needs they are working to address. The IT team may have different requirements than the security team, who may have different ideas for what the best solution would be than HR or the facilities team. Bringing different groups together will help identify what everyone wants to accomplish by implementing mass notification software, the different use cases it will be deployed for, and potential issues that may arise before any decisions have been made.

3. Ask Questions

When choices have been narrowed down, solutions may begin to look similar, so it’s important to ask vendors questions to determine what sets them apart. If a vendor says their solutions has a certain feature or can perform a certain task, ask to see it demonstrated. If there are questions about whether the software can connect to other technology, ask if there is a way to make it work together. The more questions posed to the vendor the more confident an organization can be in their selection.

4. Think About More Than Emergencies

Mass notification software is often seen as a solution for emergency communication, and while this is a primary use case for most tools, those that can handle non-emergency tasks can offer more value. Whether it is a school looking to schedule its bells, a hospital trying to automate announcements for visitor hours, or an office letting employees know a company-wide meeting has started, being able use mass notification software outside of emergencies will help keep people familiar with how to use it and incorporate it into an organization’s daily operations.

DON’T

1. Rely on Patchwork Solutions

Organizations can sometimes fall into the trap of checking a box when it comes to selecting a software solution. When the time comes to implement it though, they may discover they are missing critical components which require additional investments, but mass notification software should bring disparate technology together, not create more silos to manage. Solutions that do more may seem expense up front but can provide long-term value by doing more work with a single tool rather than multiple ones.

2. Invest in Additional New Technology

For some organizations, the need for mass notification software may be urgent. This may lead to selecting a solution that fulfills all the requirements but is incompatible with much of the technology that is already in place in an organization. This can result costly equipment replacements and delay implementation. Being able to leverage existing tools like desk phones, paging systems, desktop computers, digital signage and more with simple integrations helps organizations get more value out of existing technology investments and allows them to get up and running sooner.

3. Overlook the Value of Reaching Everyone

The most valuable component of mass notification is having a tool that gives an organization the ability to reach all their people with consistent messaging when it matters most. Select software that gives the option to use text and audio delivered to a wide range of on-site and mobile devices. This gives organizations the best opportunity to interrupt ongoing activities and get information to their people no matter where they are or what they are doing.

By following these guidelines, organizations should be able to set themselves up on the right path to select mass notification software that meets their needs and helps keep their people safe and informed during a crisis.

The post The Dos and Don’ts of Selecting Mass Notification Software appeared first on My TechDecisions.

If adopted, the rules would help inform investors about a company’s risk management, strategy, governance and would require timely notification to investors of substantial cybersecurity incidents. In addition, the rules would require companies to report about the cybersecurity expertise of board members and executives, if any.

Mark Brown, global managing director of digital trust consulting at BSI, says cybersecurity risk has existed as long as the internet has, but it is now at “such a system level” that the SEC has taken it upon themselves to formalize it and introduce corporate reporting requirements.

“What does that mean for businesses? It means a lot more rigor, a lot more focus, it means a lot for business understanding has to be applied,” Brown says. “Cybersecurity has often been seen as a technical topic, and this will transcend that belief and migrate it to where people many have believed it should be for a number of years.”

Executives need to rethink IT, cybersecurity

For the last two or three decades, organizations have largely seen IT and cybersecurity as cost centers to a business rather than a strategic asset, resulting in a culture that does not value technology and the highly skilled technologists that manage it.

Because of that view of IT, leadership often thinks it can be outsourced to save money and provide the same benefits as an internal IT department closely aligned with leadership. However, Brown says when that happens it create a disconnect between the business and IT, as technologists are simply viewed as workers that deliver technical solutions to the business without truly having to understand how those solutions can help the business.

On the flipside, IT operates in a world of processes that don’t necessarily mean anything to business executives and board members.

“In the real world, there is no such as thing as an IT process or a cybersecurity process,” Brown says. “There is only a business process that requires IT or cybersecurity enablement.”

For example, new employees need access to their organization’s data, and when they are elevated to high positions or leave the company, their level of access needs to reflect those changes. However, that doesn’t happen without IT.

“That is enabled through the use of Active Directory at the highest levels within an organization,” Brown says. “

A lack of business leadership skills in IT

Another factor leading to the disconnect between IT and business leadership is the lack of business leadership skills among IT professionals, Brown says, noting that few IT leaders truly understand how their business operates.

Many IT leaders don’t have a seat at the table, and thus aren’t tuned into the organization’s business model, how it operates and why it operates that way.

“That concentration of technical skills, rather than business understanding, has further perpetuated that gap,” Brown says. “You’ve seen continued outsourcing of IT to external companies, because it’s felt that they just don’t need to understand.”

That IT outsourcing is coming at a bad time, as the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for more cloud computing to support distributed work has accelerated an organization’s digital transformation goals by several years.

“We are seeing a situation where that absence of understanding and that disconnect between IT and the businesses is becoming really harmful,” Brown says.

If that IT and business disconnect persists, organizations could fall behind their competitors and struggle to comply with the proposed SEC regulations and other rules that will likely come down as malicious actors continue their endless barrage of cyberattacks.

Put it into dollars and cents

Ransomware has emerged over the last several years as the dominant cybersecurity threat, and news of massive ransoms being paid to cybercriminals and companies forced to shut down as they recover their systems have made global headlines. For example, Colonial Pipeline, a major supplier of refined oil products to the East Coast, was hit with ransomware in May 2021 and forced to shut down for five days, leading to fuel shortages across the area.

To resume operations, the organization paid a reported ransom of $5 million. Elsewhere, companies involved in major data breaches have had to spend millions to recover, with costs going to incident responders, legal costs and public relations. That mainstream media coverage of cyberattacks could be moving the needle and forcing business leaders to invest in cyber solutions, Brown says, but that alone isn’t an effective strategy.

Those headlines aside, Brown suggests IT use this simple equation: take 24 hours a day and multiply it by 365, which comes out to 8,760. Then, take the company’s annual revenue and divide it by 8,760, and that number gives you the cost of one hour of downtime to a business.

If business leaders can stomach losing that revenue during downtime, then maybe it’s not right to invest in those solutions, but that would not be a smart decision, Brown says.

“When you look at the cost of the solution and map it against the cost of that one hour of downtime, it would be very unusual for you to come to a perspective when you can say that is an acceptable risk,” Brown says.”

The post Why IT and Business Leaders Need to Solve Their Disconnect appeared first on My TechDecisions.

VoiceFriend broadens its best-of-breed communication and engagement solutions

NEWTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–VoiceFriend, provider of the leading HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based communication platform for senior care organizations, announced today it has acquired Caremerge’s family and resident engagement business.

The combined company will be known as Icon and will couple VoiceFriend’s omnichannel communication technology capabilities with Caremerge’s all-in-one engagement platform to empower families, residents, and staff with enhanced communication and engagement for senior living communities and nursing homes.

“As we look to expand our market presence, we are thrilled to welcome the Caremerge engagement suite to the VoiceFriend product family,” said Ryan Galea, CEO of VoiceFriend. “Caremerge is known for delivering easy-to-use solutions that enhance engagement with seniors and their families. In addition to their world-class platform, they have an excellent culture which will meld well with ours.”

The acquisition enables VoiceFriend to continue its strategic growth and expand its suite of offerings to include family and resident engagement and wellness applications. The deal will also enable VoiceFriend to introduce Caremerge’s solution to its large footprint of over 1,200 communities and to the skilled nursing market. Caremerge will continue to operate its clinical portfolio without any changes and will have an integration with the new combined solution offering. Currently, Caremerge’s technology is used in over 500 communities in the U.S. and Canada.

“Joining VoiceFriend is an exciting step for our engagement business that will allow us to provide unmatched communication and technology capabilities to now over 1,800 communities,” said Nancy Koenig, CEO of the Chicago-based Caremerge. “The scale of the new larger organization and the combination of the highly complementary solutions will provide deep and meaningful value to our clients. With over 40 years of combined senior living experience, the Icon leadership team will truly understand what it takes to drive technology adoption and innovation in the industry.”

“This is a new chapter in the journey we started ten years ago,” said Fahad Aziz, co-founder of Caremerge. “The transaction not only brings together two incredible teams with complementary missions and values, but it also paves the way for us to jointly build the most innovative and complete engagement platform in the senior living industry.”

About VoiceFriend

VoiceFriend streamlines communications for senior care organizations. The company provides a HIPPA-compliant, cloud-based communications platform for organizations that care for seniors. Thousands of assisted living, independent living, skilled nursing, PACE, and home health organizations rely on VoiceFriend to send emergency alerts and routine notifications to residents, families, and staff. For more information, visit www.VoiceFriend.net

About Caremerge

Caremerge provides EHR and Engagement solutions to over 500 Senior Living providers that promote wellness and inspire collaboration between residents, staff and families. Our simple and user-friendly solutions improve quality of care while improving quality of time spent with residents and families. We believe in a friction-less client care model that creates long-lasting partnerships with successful outcomes. For more information, visit www.Caremerge.com

Contacts

Email: VoiceFriend@CommuniquePR.com

The post Leading Senior Care Communication Platform VoiceFriend Acquires Caremerge’s Engagement and Wellness Business, Rebrands to Icon appeared first on My TechDecisions.

• State of Maharashtra to deploy Everbridge’s Public Safety solution to protect 150 million residents and annual tourists
• Representing the seventh statewide deployment of Everbridge in India, the Maharashtra win underscores the company’s global leadership in Public Safety and Crisis Preparedness with countrywide contracts in APAC, EMEA, and the Americas

BURLINGTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG), the global leader in critical event management (CEM) and national public safety software solutions, today announced that the Indian State of Maharashtra selected the company’s Incident Response Solutions to help governments plan for, respond to, and recover from any disaster. Home to a combined 150 million residents and annual tourists, Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India, and its capital Mumbai is the most populous city in the country.

The Government of Maharashtra chose Everbridge’s Previstar Continual Preparedness System (CPS) solution to help the State’s Relief and Rehabilitation Department to create dynamic plans, manage disasters, and provide decision support along with situational awareness throughout a critical incident’s life-cycle. In doing so, Maharashtra becomes the seventh state in India to adopt Everbridge’s Public Safety solutions, along with Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and West Bengal.

Following crises such as massive floods in 2021, Maharashtra undertook an initiative to implement an Incident Planning and Response System that would bring together stakeholders and support agencies including Police, Fire, Public Works, and Health under one platform, and to provide one common operating picture, to respond to any disaster in a unified manner. The State partnered with Everbridge to leverage its Previstar CPS to create a comprehensive incident management platform that puts their plans into action, tracks activities, mobilizes resources, and enables decision support.

Speaking during the recent Maharashtra Day, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari mentioned the State’s vision to achieve Zero Death by operationalizing a statewide Incident Response System (IRS).

“We are honored to support Maharashtra on the evolution of its statewide emergency preparedness and capacity building as the government institutionalizes an Incident Response System,” said Valerie Risk, Vice President of Public Safety Solutions at Everbridge.

Himadri Banerjee, Global Director of Everbridge’s Previstar said, “As we have demonstrated in India and in countries around the world, our public safety platform promotes effective disaster management and greater safety for the millions of people living in the region.”

The deployment of Maharashtra’s emergency/disaster management system expands on Everbridge’s position as the global leader in population-wide Public Warning and Public Safety Solutions. More local, state, and national governments across the globe deploy the Everbridge Public Safety solutions than any other provider, offering government agencies with the ability to save time and save lives. The Everbridge platform reaches residents and travelers in more than 200 countries and territories in case of natural disasters: such as floods, severe storms, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and wildfires; manmade threats: such as geo-political, terrorist attacks, and industrial accidents; and digital threats: such as ransomware, cyberattacks, and IT disruptions.

About Everbridge

Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG) is a global software company that provides enterprise software applications that automate and accelerate organizations’ operational response to critical events in order to Keep People Safe and Organizations Running. During public safety threats such as active shooter situations, terrorist attacks or severe weather conditions, as well as critical business events including IT outages, cyber-attacks, product recalls or supply-chain interruptions, over 6,200 customers in 76 countries rely on the Company’s Critical Event Management Platform to quickly and reliably aggregate and assess threat data, locate people at risk and responders able to assist, automate the execution of pre-defined communications processes through the secure delivery to over 100 different communication modalities, and track progress on executing response plans. For more information, visit www.everbridge.com, read the company blog, and follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated opportunity and trends for growth in our critical communications and enterprise safety applications and our overall business, our market opportunity, our expectations regarding sales of our products, our goal to maintain market leadership and extend the markets in which we compete for customers, and anticipated impact on financial results. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “intend,” variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: the ability of our products and services to perform as intended and meet our customers’ expectations; our ability to successfully integrate businesses and assets that we may acquire; our ability to attract new customers and retain and increase sales to existing customers; our ability to increase sales of our Mass Notification application and/or ability to increase sales of our other applications; developments in the market for targeted and contextually relevant critical communications or the associated regulatory environment; our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate; we have not been profitable on a consistent basis historically and may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future; the lengthy and unpredictable sales cycles for new customers; nature of our business exposes us to inherent liability risks; our ability to attract, integrate and retain qualified personnel; our ability to maintain successful relationships with our channel partners and technology partners; our ability to manage our growth effectively; our ability to respond to competitive pressures; potential liability related to privacy and security of personally identifiable information; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, and the other risks detailed in our risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including but not limited to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on February 25, 2022. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We undertake no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

All Everbridge products are trademarks of Everbridge, Inc. in the USA and other countries. All other product or company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

Everbridge Contacts:
Jim Gatta

Media Relations

jim.gatta@everbridge.com
215-290-3799

Jeff Young

Media Relations

jeff.young@everbridge.com
781-859-4116

The post Everbridge Selected by State of Maharashtra, India’s 2nd Most Populous State, to Provide Emergency Preparedness and Response Solution appeared first on My TechDecisions.

The database centralizes all compatibility and technical information related to pairing Tigo products with an unprecedented number of inverters.

MONTEVARCHI, Italy–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tigo Energy, Inc., the solar industry’s leading Flex MLPE (Module Level Power Electronics) supplier, today announced that the Company will release a comprehensive and fully searchable database of inverters compatible with Tigo TS4 products at Intersolar Europe in Munich, Germany from May 11 to 13, 2022. Tigo representatives will also showcase the entire family of Tigo TS4 Flex MLPE devices and demonstrate the solar fleet management capabilities of the Tigo Energy Intelligence software platform.

Tigo Flex MLPE products are compatible with an industry-leading number of fully tested and certified inverters. To empower solar professionals to configure and design systems more efficiently, the Tigo inverter compatibility database will allow real-time searches of all inverter models certified as compatible with Flex MLPE products.

“Tigo solutions shine a light on traditional PV installations on small residential, commercial or massive utility-scale arrays,” said Nils Szymczak, business development manager for Germany at Tigo Energy. “Installers who choose Tigo can always depend on getting a flexible and dependable MLPE platform to overcome shading and mismatch, advanced monitoring software with visibility at the module, string, system, and fleet levels, and what we call solar freedom. This last point is the freedom to couple the preferred module and inverter with the TS4 platform.”

Tigo invites Intersolar Europe attendees to stop by the Tigo booth for a chance to win a Tigo swag bundle by guessing the number of compatible inverter models listed in the new database.

To learn more about Tigo Flex MLPE products and the inverter compatibility database, please visit Tigo Energy at Intersolar Europe (Messe München, Pavilion B4, Booth 357) from May 11 to 13, 2022. To contact the Tigo team prior to the event, use this link. Sign up here to receive details about the inverter compatibility database and for notification of the inverter guess competition winner.

About Tigo Energy

Tigo Energy, the worldwide leader in Flex MLPE (Module Level Power Electronics), designs innovative solar power conversion and storage products that provide customers more choice and flexibility. The Tigo TS4 platform increases solar production, decreases operating costs, and enhances safety. When combined with the Tigo Energy Intelligence (EI) platform, it delivers module, system, and fleet-level insights to maximize solar performance and minimize operating costs. The Tigo EI Residential Solar Solution, a flexible solar-plus-storage solution for home installations, rounds out the Company’s portfolio of solar energy technology. Tigo was founded in Silicon Valley in 2007 to accelerate the adoption of solar energy, and its global team supports customers whose systems reliably produce gigawatt-hours of safe solar energy on seven continents. Find us online at www.tigoenergy.com.

Contacts

Gilberto Lembo

European Marketing Manager at Tigo Energy

marketing@tigoenergy.com

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Oregon recognized as Best in Enterprise Resilience^TM Gold leader for significant strengths in deploying technologies and practices to manage readiness, responsiveness, and resilience in the face of critical events

BURLINGTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG), the global leader in critical event management (CEM) and national public warning solutions, today announced that the State of Oregon achieved the prestigious Best in Enterprise Resilience Gold designation based on its exceptional performance in meeting the rigorous formalized standards to become Critical Event Management (CEM) Certified.

Oregon relies on Everbridge’s CEM platform to power OR-Alert, the state’s emergency notification system that can reach 3.3 million residents across Oregon’s 36 counties and tribal governments in the event of a natural or manmade disaster. The system also allows county emergency managers to access notification tools including FEMA’s Integrated Alerts and Warnings System (IPAWS), which is capable of messaging all cell phones in a targeted geographic area. Oregon adopted Everbridge in 2020, after the state experienced one of the most destructive wildfire seasons on record.

William Chapman, Oregon Statewide Interoperability Coordinator stated, “We are proud to have earned the Best in Enterprise Resilience Certification. This recognition validates much of the work that counties, tribal governments, and state agencies have been doing to be better prepared for the next emergency or disaster. We want to be as prepared and as resilient as possible and will continue to work to improve now and into the future.”

The Best in Enterprise Resilience assessment evaluated the State of Oregon across four competency areas: Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation, Smart Process Automation, and Communication and Collaboration. Significant strengths identified during the assessment include:

• Managing a database of millions of contacts to assure the state can deliver alert, warning, and notification (AWN) messages via multiple paths; sharing numerous sources of information on a common operation picture. (Data & Analytics)
• Maintaining the Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP) and Tactical Interoperability Communications Plans (TICPs); using crisis management software for sharing incident information and resource requests. (Digital Transformation)
• Establishing a Private Network Group to automatically notify the State when a local jurisdiction issues an alert to its community; integrating the State Everbridge platform with county platforms to ensure registrants are automatically imported into the state system; and automatically triggering weather, earthquake and wildfire alerts via SmartWeather and ShakeAlert. (Smart Process Automation)
• Issuing AWN messages to any location across the state via email, text message, phone call, mobile app, and IPAWS Wireless Emergency Alerts and Emergency Alert System; enabling local and tribal governments to transmit AWNs for localized incidents, with the State providing backup to send AWNs upon request. (Communication & Collaboration)

“Everbridge congratulates the State of Oregon for demonstrating the kind of leadership that serves as a model for other forward-thinking organizations,” said Mike Mostow, Everbridge’s Vice President of Public Safety at Everbridge. “We are honored to power the collaborative partnership between the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, the Statewide Interoperability Program, and local, tribal, and county governments, marking an investment in interoperable resilient communications throughout the state.”

A Best in Enterprise Resilience^TM leader

As a certified organization, Oregon joins the ranks of top-tier ready and resilient organizations, including Goldman Sachs, NBCUniversal, Dow, Discover, AARP, Siemens, Philips, Northrop Grumman, Takeda, Alexion, Loudoun County (VA), City of Fairfax (VA), and the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Everbridge Critical Event Management (CEM) Certification Program provides a unique standards framework for assessing an organization’s overall enterprise resilience, leveraging 20 years of professional services engagements across tens of thousands of projects in over 150 countries and facilitating tens of billions of critical interactions. Everbridge’s proprietary certification process offers organizations an end-to-end methodology for evaluating and benchmarking resilience when confronted with critical events. Organizations that achieve CEM Certification^TM status follow proven industry best practices to keeping their people safe and operations running, faster.

About Everbridge

Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG) is a global software company that provides enterprise software applications that automate and accelerate organizations’ operational response to critical events in order to Keep People Safe and Organizations Running. During public safety threats such as active shooter situations, terrorist attacks or severe weather conditions, as well as critical business events including IT outages, cyber-attacks, product recalls or supply-chain interruptions, over 6,100 customers in 76 countries rely on the Company’s Critical Event Management Platform to quickly and reliably aggregate and assess threat data, locate people at risk and responders able to assist, automate the execution of pre-defined communications processes through the secure delivery to over 100 different communication modalities, and track progress on executing response plans. For more information, visit www.everbridge.com, read the company blog, and follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated opportunity and trends for growth in our critical communications and enterprise safety applications and our overall business, our market opportunity, our expectations regarding sales of our products, our goal to maintain market leadership and extend the markets in which we compete for customers, and anticipated impact on financial results. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “intend,” variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: the ability of our products and services to perform as intended and meet our customers’ expectations; our ability to successfully integrate businesses and assets that we may acquire; our ability to attract new customers and retain and increase sales to existing customers; our ability to increase sales of our Mass Notification application and/or ability to increase sales of our other applications; developments in the market for targeted and contextually relevant critical communications or the associated regulatory environment; our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate; we have not been profitable on a consistent basis historically and may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future; the lengthy and unpredictable sales cycles for new customers; nature of our business exposes us to inherent liability risks; our ability to attract, integrate and retain qualified personnel; our ability to maintain successful relationships with our channel partners and technology partners; our ability to manage our growth effectively; our ability to respond to competitive pressures; potential liability related to privacy and security of personally identifiable information; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, and the other risks detailed in our risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including but not limited to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on February 25, 2022. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We undertake no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

All Everbridge products are trademarks of Everbridge, Inc. in the USA and other countries. All other product or company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

Everbridge Contacts:
Jim Gatta

Media Relations

jim.gatta@everbridge.com
215-290-3799

Jeff Young

Media Relations

jeff.young@everbridge.com
781-859-4116

The post State of Oregon Achieves Best in Enterprise ResilienceTM as Part of Everbridge’s Global Critical Event Management (CEM) Certification Program appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Brien Woodaman, AV technician and digital signage service manager at UConn, explains that the university began standardizing its digital signage systems in 2016. At the time, each department used its own homegrown solution. This led to inconsistencies in service offerings, scalability, hosting and performance. “There was a lot of confusion, so there was a push to standardize,” he says.

A Standardized System

To address the issues, UConn deployed Carousel 7, Carousel Digital Signage’s on-premise platform, to deliver content in a more streamlined fashion. This provided the standardization the university was seeking. It also addressed the need for a user-friendly UI. “The people interfacing with the digital signage systems weren’t graphic designers or technicians; they were office admins, faculty, or staff from different departments,” Woodaman adds. “We needed something that was simple and easy to use, and that’s why we chose Carousel.”

Related: Don’t Buy Digital Signage: Hire It

The initial Carousel 7 deployment involved 300 media players. Since then, UConn has kept expanding from there through its transition to Carousel Cloud, which began in 2021. Presently, there are approximately 700 displays receiving content from Carousel Cloud across the main campus, as well as six regional locations. Woodaman estimates that by the end of the summer, this number will increase to 800.

The university uses a combination of BrightSign and Apple TV players, as well as the webOS functionality that is built into its LG smart displays. Woodaman explains that UConn also deployed Jamf Now. This is a cloud-based MDM solution that manages all Apple TV devices on campus. Thanks to Carousel’s partnership with Jamf, Woodaman extended these management capabilities to the digital signage system. “I created a sub-group that manages the Apple TVs that are running signage,” he states. “When a new device is purchased, I just add that to the Jamf sub-group and push out the configuration, and it loads right into Carousel Cloud.”

Displaying Content on Carousel Cloud

The content displayed across UConn varies depending on where the signage is situated. For instance, the screens outside of classrooms display scheduling information. Meanwhile, department-specific displays run announcements related to scholarships, internships and different work opportunities. Student groups also have access to some displays so that they may post advertising about upcoming events or even roommate seeking ads.

Carousel Cloud software also provides options to use built-in templates for digital signage or upload pre-made content. Additionally, the Carousel Cloud system integrates with the university’s mass notification system so that in the event of an emergency, the screens immediately switch to displaying alerts.

Intuitive Experience

Furthermore, a portal on UConn’s website manages content created by students. It features a submission form asking users to provide information about file sizes and aspect ratios. It also requires information on buildings where they wish the content to appear and for how long. These completed forms generate tickets in the help desk system. From there, Woodaman’s team reviews these requests to ensure that they follow the university’s style guide. Individual departments that publish and manage their own content use Carousel Cloud’s scheduling feature to distribute messaging.

Woodaman notes that the shift to Carousel Cloud has resulted in a more intuitive, responsive user experience. He points out that updates are issued regularly, enabling users to take advantage of new features. The cloud solution also facilitates administration and management on the fly. “If I’m not in the office at my computer, it’s easy for me to pull out my phone and navigate the mobile version to check on players, update content, and add users,” he reveals. “It makes for a faster experience.”

Cohesive Look

The new shift also makes for more consistent branding. During the transition to Carousel Cloud, Woodaman worked with Carousel’s creative services team to develop three standard channel options with templates that incorporate the visual elements associated with the UConn brand. “Previously, it was kind of a free-for-all when it came to how people wanted their channels to look,” he said.

Even though different departments need to distribute their own messaging, there was a need for some visual consistency. Woodaman adds, “We wanted to make sure that it was more cohesive, and that you still knew that you were at UConn when looking at the displays. The channel templates are super helpful in keeping everything consistent, and people who don’t have graphic design skills can easily create content and publish it.”

Looking Ahead

Looking forward, Woodaman says UConn is considering the deployment of outdoor signage for wayfinding, as well as at bus stops to display schedules. “We’re planning for steady growth as more and more people on campus use the system,” he says. In addition to everyday, informative signage, there are opportunities to take it further using video walls and marquee wrap displays. “We have a few fun projects that we’re currently conceptualizing.”

UConn’s AV services group is now part of the university’s IT department, which facilitates rollouts such as these, Woodaman explains. “Because we all work under the same umbrella, it’s easier to gain access to IT resources and to collaborate with the server group and the security team,” he remarks. And, once again, moving to the cloud has increased efficiency. “With Carousel Cloud, once it’s set up and the initial paths are created, there’s virtually no ongoing maintenance thanks to its IT-friendly operation. Everything is seamless.”

The post Carousel Digital Signage Helps Communications at UConn Campus appeared first on My TechDecisions.