MELBOURNE, FL, May 21, 2010
/24-7PressRelease/ -- Woodward County Emergency Management Director Matt Lehenbauer praises the viaRadio ENVOY Emergency Solution RDS-based alerting system for delivering weather service warnings to emergency managers in less than 60 seconds.
"One of our requirements for the emergency warning system was that we get information from the weather service in under 60 seconds," says Lehenbauer. "That might sound fast, but when it's a tornado warning we need to know right away. The viaRadio system functionality is outstanding. We were very thankful for that speed."
The ENVOY system uses the latest version of common alerting protocol (CAP) to send an auto message directly to HEARO Local Alert Receivers located in targeted impact areas notifying of the impending weather events, NOAA alerts, Amber Alerts and other emergency notifications from emergency managers and the National Weather Service.
Woodward County, Oklahoma has used the viaRadio system for nearly four years. Over that time Lehenbauer has worked closely with the technical team to "hone the system to a dependable level." He says the system has become more reliable to the emergency management team than the NOAA weather radio system which failed once during recent storm activity and was triggered two minutes after the first viaRadio ENVOY alerts came through to the HEARO Local Alert Receivers.
A recent grant from the state of Oklahoma allowed Woodward County Emergency Management to equip all first responders and critical areas including hospitals and nursing homes with the viaRadio HEARO Local Alert Receivers.
"There are neat features built into this system we really enjoy," says Lehenbauer. "We use the email forwarding to notify the state emergency management office when tornados touch down or damage occurs. Those are times you can't just stop and send email. It's great to have it automated."
Woodward County sustained wind damage in excess of $120,000 this week during the three-day tornado activity.
The HEARO receivers can display informational text messages in English and Spanish and notify local residents in an emergency in a matter of seconds. HEARO carries NOAA weather warnings and other public safety text alerts. Using FM radio infrastructure, the viaRadio emergency warning system works even when power, phone and Internet are out. The radios have a battery back-up in case of power outages.
viaRadio Corporation provides warning systems to governments, educational institutions, emergency managers, hospitality facilities, and other large organizations in the U.S and Caribbean. The systems include user-friendly software designed to trigger instantaneous text alerts to HEARO receivers. Systems in operation provide warning and post-event information for natural weather phenomena including tornado, hurricane, fire, and volcanic activity. Founded in 2005, viaRadio Corporation, along with its parent Germany-based 2wcom, are worldwide leaders in RDS/RBDS equipment and data systems. For more information about viaRadio or ENVOY and HEARO, visit http://www.viaradio.com.
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