Airwide Enables SMS Emergency Messaging Alerts for Public Safety and Awareness
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Mobile Messaging Infrastructure Improves Efficiency, Enables Instantaneous Capacity Burst to Ensure Immediate, Prioritized Delivery of Critical Text Messages
BURLINGTON, Mass. and READING, England, June 14 - Airwide Solutions, the leading provider of mobile messaging infrastructure and applications, today announced in conjunction with CTIA's Wireless Safety Week, that the company is spearheading the messaging infrastructure industry's drive to make better use of mobile phones to aid in emergency situations. The Airwide Emergency Messaging Solution (EMS) is the first carrier-class system to help operators meet the growing need for public safety notifications, leveraging the untapped resource of global handset support for text messaging. Unlike other systems that initiate one message for each recipient, Airwide EMS provides optimal efficiency by initiating one message that is delivered with unmatched speed to multiple subscribers.
Text messaging is an effective and reliable means of communicating during an emergency situation, and is a powerful way to reach people on the move or away from conventional media (i.e. television and radio). However, traditional solutions and most mobile infrastructures cannot support the capacity or efficiency required to deliver thousands of text messages in minutes instead of hours. Airwide EMS helps mobile operators optimize their network for maximum efficiency and enables the instantaneous bursting of capacity to support the delivery of thousands of text messages each second. Moreover, Airwide will not charge operators who exceed their traffic licenses for emergency alerts, enabling the widest reach in the shortest amount of time.
"The universal support for text messaging worldwide makes it an ideal vehicle for communicating critical information during times of emergency, and Airwide's involvement in this initiative solidifies the company's position as an innovation leader in the messaging industry," said Greg Latour, senior vice president of technology development for Cellular South. "The viability of emergency text messaging is an invaluable asset in emergency management, and is a service that is of great interest to Cellular South in our continued efforts to provide subscribers with messaging options that meet their needs - and help protect them - in the current global climate. "While some emergencies are strictly regional, others may require national notification for safety. Other situations may mandate broad public awareness across borders while still others are localized to a particular group membership. The common denominator is that a message needs to reliably and quickly reach a group of individuals within minutes of an impending or currently occurring emergency. Airwide EMS provides the ideal foundation for implementing a rapid and effective notification system. Airwide EMS also represents a further step in addressing mobile operator requirements for Mobile Messaging 2.0 goals of meeting user demand for more control and functionality from messaging applications.
"More than 2.5 billion people worldwide use mobile phones, and for most people these devices never leave their sides. The industry is just realizing how these fixtures of everyday life can be used in real time to keep people safe," said Vince Kadar, CTO of Airwide Solutions. "Airwide EMS helps tap this vastly underutilized resource, giving the general public and specific groups advance notice that can make a critical difference in emergency situations."
The Airwide Approach - Add Capacity, Improve Efficiency
Unlike other approaches, Airwide EMS enables an operator to deliver a single copy of an emergency text message to multiple subscribers as opposed to generating one for each recipient. The configuration allows operators to capitalize on the internal efficiencies of the Airwide messaging architecture, while also offering the ability to burst capacity when needed. Airwide's tiered Fusion architecture is ideal for delivering these messages with industry-leading performance because it avoids the bottlenecks of traditional messaging architectures. The Fusion architecture breaks up monolithic messaging infrastructures into tiers, including: storage, access and delivery, control, and application, and this componentized approach enables the most rapid, efficient and intelligent delivery of messages available in the industry today.
Flexible Emergency Messaging Options
The Airwide EMS incorporates functionality for creating and administering group lists as well as prioritizing message traffic, and is available in an array of packages to meet the varying needs of operators worldwide. The componentized nature of Airwide's mobile messaging infrastructure offerings, a key differentiator in the market, ensures operators can purchase only what they need. In addition, since all of Airwide's solutions are based on open standards they can be easily integrated with other products.
The varying configurations of the Airwide EMS are built on a foundation of elements from Airwide's core product line, including AirGate, AirMessenger Router and AirManager Reporting.
AirGate takes a single message and a list of recipients and generates the individual messages for delivery by AirMessenger Router, manages the connection settings and translates messages between the formats used by external systems and the formats used by the mobile network. This ensures that all messages reach the recipients in the format that is supported by their handset and network. AirGate also allows operators to prioritize the inbound traffic, which is a key enabler of an effective emergency alert system.
AirMessenger Router optimizes the messaging infrastructure by incorporating first delivery attempt, load distribution and routing intelligence so that traffic can be dynamically allocated across the network's messaging elements in the most efficient manner.
AirManager Reporting collects, analyzes and summarizes messaging data to produce performance and management reports. In the context of the Airwide Emergency Messaging configuration, AirManager Reporting enables operators to see how effectively the emergency messages were delivered, enabling them to further improve the performance of their network.
For additional information about Emergency SMS Alerts, download Airwide's whitepaper "Is SMS ready for SOS?" at www.airwidesolutions.com.
About Airwide Solutions
Airwide Solutions is the innovation leader in next-generation mobile messaging infrastructure and applications. Its products allow more than 80 wireless operators in 46 countries to deliver and manage the millions of mobile messages their subscribers send every day. With a history of industry firsts - including the first text message ever sent and the introduction of the first SMS router and A2P MMSC - the company continues to pioneer new technologies. Airwide's open Fusion architecture offers mobile operators more revenue options and a practical pathway to Mobile Messaging 2.0, while giving subscribers more messaging choices.
Airwide Solutions operates globally with offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Africa. For more information about Airwide Solutions, please visit www.airwidesolutions.com.
Source: Airwide Solutions
