WSi News2016-09-22 07:22:20
Ping4 Awarded U.S. Department of Homeland Security Contract for Alerting First Responders to Rapidly Changing Flood Events
Ping4 Inc., creator of smartphone-based emergency alerting applications, has been awarded a development contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. As part of the agreement, Ping4 will deliver a geographically precise communications platform that will enable instant notification to first responders about rapidly changing flood conditions. The solution will make it easy to send location-specific, rich-media alerts to first responders' mobile devices, so they can take immediate actions to reduce flood fatalities and property losses.
"After heat, floods are the leading cause of weather fatalities in the United States," said Dan Cotter, Director of the First Responders Group, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, referencing National Weather Service statistics ((http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml). "Last year the National Weather Service reported 176 lives were lost due to floods. We are working with Ping4 to get better flood event information out to our first responders in time to make a difference and reduce the number of lives lost from floods each year. Ping4 brings technology to both geo-target alerts and leverage rich-media that can help make this happen."
The Ping4-developed platform will send geo-targeted multimedia alerts that will allow interested parties to make informed decisions during rising water events. By leveraging the location-based features of smart mobile devices through a technology called geofencing, Ping4 will enable alerts to focus on areas as targeted as a single building, a section of a city, a stretch of highway or an area along an irregular border of the river. The rich-media content, which interested parties will receive within seconds, can include any combination of text, images, audio and video, making it much easier to share potentially life-saving information.
Ping4 Inc., creator of smartphone-based emergency alerting applications, has been awarded a development contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. As part of the agreement, Ping4 will deliver a geographically precise communications platform that will enable instant notification to first responders about rapidly changing flood conditions. The solution will make it easy to send location-specific, rich-media alerts to first responders' mobile devices, so they can take immediate actions to reduce flood fatalities and property losses.
"After heat, floods are the leading cause of weather fatalities in the United States," said Dan Cotter, Director of the First Responders Group, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, referencing National Weather Service statistics ((http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml). "Last year the National Weather Service reported 176 lives were lost due to floods. We are working with Ping4 to get better flood event information out to our first responders in time to make a difference and reduce the number of lives lost from floods each year. Ping4 brings technology to both geo-target alerts and leverage rich-media that can help make this happen."
The Ping4-developed platform will send geo-targeted multimedia alerts that will allow interested parties to make informed decisions during rising water events. By leveraging the location-based features of smart mobile devices through a technology called geofencing, Ping4 will enable alerts to focus on areas as targeted as a single building, a section of a city, a stretch of highway or an area along an irregular border of the river. The rich-media content, which interested parties will receive within seconds, can include any combination of text, images, audio and video, making it much easier to share potentially life-saving information.
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