GSN20150701.pdf

Law Enforcement/Public SafetyAtHoc introduces AtHoc Connect for interoperablecrisis communication with and across organizationsSAN MATEO, CA, July 8, 2015 –AtHoc, Inc., today announced thelaunch and immediate availabilityof AtHoc Connect, designed to facilitatecommunication and collaborationwithin and across organizationsduring a crisis.The company created AtHocConnect to allow organizationsto build and participate in securenetworks that effectively bring togetherpeople, organizations anddevices to improve interagencycommunication and collaborationduring crises and critical businesssituations. Such information sharingincludes cross-agency exchangeof messaging, multi-media contentand geographical information, resultingin improved shared situationalawareness and rapid coordinatedresponse.The requirement for organizationsto communicate and collaboratewith other organizationsduring a crisis situation is welldocumented. From Hurricane Katrina,the LAX shooting and theWashington Navy Yard shooting,major incidents have shown thatemergencies do not occur in silosand that interoperable communicationbetween agencies is essentialfor rapid event resolution.Congress has recently acted aswell. With the signing of H.R.615:Department of Homeland Security(DHS) Interoperable CommunicationsAct on July 6, 2015, DHS isnow mandated to “…achieve andmaintain interoperable communicationsamong the componentsof DHS, including for daily operations,planned events, and emergencies.”Congress recognizes thatdespite effective communicationwithin specific Homeland Securityagencies, interagency communicationstill remains a challenge, andthe new law calls for explicit solutionsto address this.Recent trends in technology andinnovation in networked-basedcommunication models, includingthe maturity of social networks aswell as the evolution of the Internet-of-Things,make solving thislong time challenge viable. It isnow possible to achieve interoperablecommunicationwithrelative easeand modestinvestment.AtHoc, alreadyservingthe vast majorityof theU.S. Federalgovernmentwith its alerting platform, tacklesthe challenge of interagency communicationwith the introductionof AtHoc Connect.How AtHoc Connect Works –Building Cross-OrganizationalNetworksAtHoc Connect enables organizationsto communicate and collaboratewith other organizationsduring a crisis situation. An organizationcan “invite” others to joinits “network”, similar to the wayconnect invitations occur on socialnetworks such as Facebook orLinkedIn. Invitations to “connect”can be sent to any organization,whether they are an existing AtHoccustomer or not. All connectedmembers can securely use theAtHoc platform to exchange alerts,share multi-media content, andgeographical based informationwith any other connected member.The result – a secure network of organizationsthat can communicateand collaborate with each otherduring a crisis.AtHoc Connect is available nowto all AtHoc customers without additionallicensing costs. CustomersView the video at www.athoc.comcan also expand their crisis communicationsnetwork to include organizationsthat don’t currently useAtHoc for crisis communications.Every member of the networkcan establish their own policiesfor sending and receiving informationwithin and outside of theirorganization.This flexibilityprovidesa seamlessmeans to rapidlydevelop abroad-basedcollaborative,secure,interoperablenetwork. Furthermore,every member organizationcontrols its own personnelinformation and is not required toshare it with external organizationsto achieve such interoperable communication.This approach enablesorganizations to maintain the securityand self-management capabilityrequired by many participatingagencies as well as prevents theneed to update contact informationof external contacts.The result – AtHoc Connect improvessituational awareness, reducesresponse times and providesend-to-end control of emergencycommunications for all networkorganizations – resulting in trueinteroperable communications andcollaboration when every secondcounts.AtHoc Connect meets themost demanding standards ofprivacy and securitySuch innovative collaboration requiresthe highest levels of policycontrol and security. AtHoc exceedsSSAE-16 certification and is one offew vendors providing a hosted crisiscommunication service certifiedas compliant with government andDepartment of Defense securitymandates such as NIST SP 800-53Rev4 at FIPS 199 Moderate classification.Additionally, AtHoc Connecthas received Authority-to-Operate(ATO) from the both the U.S.Department of Energy and the U.S.Department of the Treasury.“Our mission is simply to makethe world safer. We are looking forwardto seeing the positive impactAtHoc Connect will have on the securityof our communities and ourcountry,” said Guy Miasnik, Presidentand CEO. “We are pleased toshare our innovation with our customersas well as our nation’s leaderswho have recognized the needfor interoperable crisis communication.”About AtHocAtHoc is the pioneer and recognizedleader in networked crisiscommunication, protecting millionsof people around the world.AtHoc provides a seamless andreliable exchange of critical informationamong organizations, theirpeople, devices and external entities.A trusted partner to the world’smost demanding customers, AtHocis the #1 provider to the US Departmentsof Defense and HomelandSecurity, and safeguards numerousother government agencies andleading commercial enterprises.Headquartered in Silicon Valley,the company operates around theglobe. For more information aboutAtHoc, please visit www.athoc.com.July/August, 2015 GSN: Government Security News www.gsnmagazine.com 15