Campus Security Concerns Addressed by Revolutionary New Emergency Notification System

Developed in Cooperation with Carnegie Mellon University, Metis Secure Overcomes Critical Shortfalls Found in other ENS

PITTSBURGH, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — University officials continue to face complex challenges when it comes to notifying campus populations of emergencies. Metis Secure Solutions today launched a ground-breaking, location-based emergency notification system (ENS).

Developed in cooperation with safety department officials, students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, the Metis Secure system addresses critical shortcomings found in other ENS systems.

“Student safety is the number one priority. Until now, there have been gaps in what existing systems can accomplish,” says Madelyn Miller, CMU’s Director of Environmental Health and Safety. “We were excited at the opportunity to work with Metis Secure to create a faster, more reliable system that addressed our needs.”

“Communications networks relying on cell, Ethernet and WiFi are often compromised in times of crisis,” says Mark Kurtzrock, President and CEO of Metis Secure Solutions. “Network slowdowns and power failures can affect emergency notification efforts when you need them most. We focused on the vulnerabilities of existing systems to deliver the right message to the right people quickly under tough conditions. We push information where it needs to be, when it needs to be there and we do it in less than 10 seconds.”

The project began in earnest in 2006 when Miller, current president of the Campus Safety Health Environment Management Association, posed the ultimate challenge to the Metis Secure team. Build a system that works inside Mellon Institute, which features hundreds of research labs in the kind of old-world construction that creates extensive cell phone and other communication dead zones. The system will be installed throughout Mellon Institute in summer 2009.

The new Metis Secure system is a location-based platform that gets detailed instructions to specific locations in seconds. Wall mounted units placed at strategic locations within buildings across campus relay information to one another through a self-healing, wireless mesh network.

Best of all, a simple button press on any device notifies campus security that help is needed at that location. The “call for help” is also delivered as a text message to selected personnel via their cell phones or PDA. Full use of text, lights, sirens and voice provide an information-rich redundancy and reach that ensure maximum protection including vision and hearing-impaired people. Managed by a central system supervisor, the entire network offers an unmatched combination of speed, information management and location targeting.

While the company’s initial focus has been on ENS for colleges and universities, the Metis Secure platform also can serve the needs of businesses, chemical plants, malls, senior care assisted living, public buildings and more. For more information: on the web at www.metissecure.com.

SOURCE Metis Secure Solutions