Edmond Scientific Teams with Lucent Worldwide Services to Support Homeland Defense

FAIRFAX, VA - Following the tragic events of the September 11 attacks, Edmond Scientific Company (ESC) has announced they have joined resources with Lucent Worldwide Services (LWS) to assess and provide Voice-Video-Data (ViViD) solutions for emergency management agencies nationwide. ESC and LWS will jointly market, design, and implement solutions, while offering services to maintain the new ViViD technology.

"9/11 highlighted the communications discontinuity between State and Federal agencies, as well as between State authorities and first responders," John Pitale, President & CEO for ESC, said. "Most state agencies currently rely on local news sources or CNN to provide situational awareness and video feeds, rather than have internal sources to assess situations and release public information. Our goal is to provide continuous communication, command and control amongst authorities and dispatched units."

The new technology would replace outdated technology still in use in many state command and control centers, and would integrate their systems with federal emergency management and homeland defense systems. These operations centers serve as the focal point for managing state crises on a local and national level, and disseminating information to the press and the public on behalf of the Governor.

One of the project goals is to implement an affordable solution that would allow state agencies to receive video and data from dispatched units in the field during a crisis in order to assess the situation and determine the best response.

"The ideal is continuous communication with dispatched units to provide the ability to continually assess an emergency situation and respond appropriately, especially given the new threat's disposition to stage attacks in time as well as location," Pitale said.

Each solution may take any number of forms from new display and information management systems to more integrated ViViD networking and telecommunications capabilities. The process toward improving capabilities begins with a needs assessment of each operation. After conducting the needs assessment, ESC will compose a design specification and planning document, outlining the recommended solution. Once the specification and planning is complete, ESC and Lucent will provide inside and outside plant support, install updated systems as needed, and provide training and operational support on how to use the new equipment.