Army deploys AtHoc alerts for mass notifications
The U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division has selected AtHoc IWSAlerts to serve as the mass notification system in theatre on the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), the military’s secure computer communications system. The 1st Infantry Division currently is deployed in Iraq and is expanding its notification capabilities to its in-theatre operations, network-centric emergency alerts to notify personnel for force protection against threats ranging from extreme weather to enemy attack.
This new deployment builds upon the 2009 expansion of network-centric alerting capabilities at Fort Riley, which includes the 1st Infantry Division, Irwin Army hospital and elementary and middle schools that are located on the fort. As part of this expansion, Fort Riley upgraded to AtHoc IWSAlerts Enterprise Edition to gain the benefits of additional AtHoc features including cross-domain alerting, tiered operator permissions, Active Directory integration and multi-tenant support.
Units and organizations now will share common training and management experiences for mass notification both “at home” at Fort Riley and “in the field” during a deployment. The same AtHoc technology that can notify Fort Riley’s Irwin Army Community Hospital personnel about a hazmat emergency can now alert the 1st Infantry Division units about a hostile threat in Iraq.
AtHoc IWSAlerts mass solution sends alerts rapidly through the IP network to all computer workstations using pop-up audio/visual alerts that describe the threat, include instructions for taking appropriate action and have response options for bi-directional communication between personnel and operators. The system also delivers alerts as SMS messages to cell phones and emails alerts to computers and mobile devices, including BlackBerry devices.
