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AWS Convergence
Technologies, Inc. 12410 Milestone Center Drive Suite 300 Germantown, Maryland 20876 Phone: 301-250-4000 
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Press ReleasesPress > April 11, 2006 Release WeatherBug® Community Safety Solution to Keep Broward County Schools Safe from Severe Weather and Lightning threats via Desktop and Mobile Phone Alerts Fort Lauderdale, FL and Germantown, MD – April 12, 2006 – WeatherBug®, the leading provider of live, local weather information services and the Broward County School Board, today announced they will be demonstrating a new initiative to proactively alert and notify key school personnel of imminent severe weather and lightning threats in their area at the Broward County School Board April 18th meeting.. WeatherBug’s Community Safety Solution will deliver severe weather alerts and prediction notifications to online applications in the schools and at the School District’s Safety Department. Alerts will also be relayed via cell phones and PDAs to school personnel within the area to protect students outdoors on playgrounds, playing fields or anywhere they are exposed to the elements, such as field trips. “Too often people wait too long before seeking safe shelter from a thunderstorm and find themselves caught outside in a very dangerous and sometimes deadly situation,” said John Jensenius, a lightning safety expert with the NOAA National Weather Service. Severe weather approaches quickly, and many times with out warning. The WeatherBug Community Safety Solution will deliver the information to schools, via desktop applications and mobile phones in time to move students to safety when severe weather threatens, before it is too late. Working with the Broward County Sheriff’s office and Emergency Management office over the past year, WeatherBug has installed more than 55 WeatherBug Tracking Stations across Broward County on public safety facilities and 20 local schools. Each station reports live neighborhood-level weather conditions to millions in the county. With the new safety package school personnel will receive the following safety alerting and prediction alerts on their mobile phones:
“WeatherBug was founded to deliver the most precise local weather information and severe weather alerts to help protect lives and property,” said Robert Marshall, WeatherBug President and CEO. “As severe weather is becoming more frequent across the U.S., WeatherBug is the only company who has the data, technology and experience to deliver live instantaneous conditions and alerts where people actually work, play, live and attend school. We are dedicated to working with The School Board of Broward County over the next few months to roll out the WeatherBug Community Safety program. Educating and protecting children is our priority and our passion.” The new program unfolds in three phases: Phase One begins with the District’s Safety Department and Broward County Schools. WeatherBug’s Enterprise solution, WeatherBug Streamer, will be installed at the District’s Safety Department. This application, accessed via the Internet, will deliver live weather conditions across the county, including lightning prediction and strike data, plus enhanced radar imaging. In addition, all schools will be given a 10 license version of WeatherBug’s premium desktop application WeatherBug Plus. Teachers and principals will be able to receive live weather conditions from the school’s closest WeatherBug Tracking Station, or any of the 8,000 stations across the U.S., on the desktop along with severe weather alerts. This phase will be completed by the end of May. Phase Two adds Location Based System (LBS) Alerting. Location based alerting on cell phones and PDA’s will be rolled out to deliver safety alerts and prediction alerting. In addition parameter setting for certain thresholds can be set for alerting (i.e. if the wind speed exceeds 20 MPH) as well as custom text messages to the team with the phones to enhance communication. Four phones will be licensed per school. This phase will be completed by the opening of the 2006 School Year. Phase Three involves extensive, on-site user training. WeatherBug Meteorologists and technicians will ensure Broward schools fully grasp and maximize the program. This phase will be completed with Phase Two at the opening of the 2006 school year. “The safety of Broward county students is our number one priority,” said Jerry Graziose, Broward County School Board, Safety Director. “We are proactively planning and instituting systems and processes to protect our faculty and students from severe weather threats. The state of Florida averages 10 deaths and 40 injuries due to lightning in Florida each year, and half occur during recreational activities, and that is tragic.” People need reliable weather data relevant to their location in time to prevent unnecessary accidents and death. WeatherBug is often the only weather source that can provide truly live local weather information at the neighborhood level with its network of over 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations across the U.S . (Alternative sources are typically based upon computer modeling from airport data, which can be up to an hour old.) About WeatherBug®WeatherBug ensures that individuals, schools, businesses and government agencies receive the most precise live weather information, the most relevant weather reports, and the earliest weather warnings to safeguard property, lives and to plan with confidence. With 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and over 1,000 cameras primarily based at neighborhood schools and public safety facilities across the U.S., WeatherBug maintains the largest exclusive weather network in the world. The live, local weather conditions are delivered to millions of consumers via the Internet and mobile devices, more than 100 state and local government agencies including the National Weather Service, and to broadcast television stations, schools, and businesses. As such, WeatherBug is the #1 distributor of severe weather alerts to the public. WeatherBug data is unique as it is the only live, neighborhood weather available anywhere. WeatherBug is a brand of AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. # # # Editors Note: Alyce Menton will be on-site in Broward County for the announcement, issued at the Broward County School Board April 18th meeting. Contact her to schedule interviews or for additional information. Press Contact:Alyce Menton |
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