December 5, 2005
Tampa Bay Region Chooses Convergence Communications to Develop Emergency Management Portal
Company's E-Sponder Solution Also Successful in Wisconsin
ST. LOUIS and TAMPA, Fla. -- December 5, 2005 -- Convergence Communications, the leading provider of highly customizable collaborative software solutions to law enforcement, federal and commercial entities, announced it signed a one year contract with the Tampa UASI region. Convergence will deploy its E-Sponder(SM) solution to develop a customized portal for the Tampa Bay Region including Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties and the cities of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg.
"We're thrilled Tampa chose our E-Sponder solution to prepare for and manage emergencies, events and everyday activities regionally," said Robert Wolf, President and CEO of Convergence Communications. "Our goal is to provide the region's officials -- who dedicate their time and lives to protect and serve its many citizens -- with easy-to-use, real-time collaboration solutions to better protect us all."
Under the terms of the agreement, The Tampa Bay Urban Area Security Initiative will pilot the solution for one year with an option to enter into a long-term contract for the E-Sponder communications and collaborations portal, based on Microsoft(R) Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003 Technologies. The solution is hosted at Convergence Communication's highly secure data center located in St. Louis.
The Tampa Bay Police department has already identified E-Sponder for use during, before and after its 2006 Gasparilla celebrations to be held in late January. Local authorities and emergency management individuals plan to utilize the solution to ensure the safety of the more than 400,000 attendees anticipated to attend this year's festivities.
In addition to Tampa, Convergence Communications' E-Sponder was selected this summer to provide emergency management software to the State of Wisconsin Emergency Management, Department of Military Affairs. The E-Sponder solution will be supporting 72 counties, 1,850 local jurisdictions, and approximately 5.5 million people.
All local and county offices in Wisconsin are using the solution to plan and manage response to All Hazards incidents as well as to facilitate information sharing. Emergency managers statewide can rapidly modify the system to allow them to manage one or more incidents concurrently. The solution will have additional components for resource and task tracking, position checklists, business continuity monitoring, public information reporting and messaging. In addition, Convergence continues to partner with ESRI to integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) component to the project allowing mapping and other similar functions.
Past customer events include the 2004 Presidential Debates supporting Washington University and St. Louis County Police, 2004 World Series supporting St. Louis City Police Department and Super Bowl XXXIX supporting the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
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