Anchorage, AK - November 11, 2011 - Velleros, the leading provider of mass notification and content delivery for the regional wireless carriers, announced today that GCI has signed an agreement to deploy the Velleros Hosted Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP) Gateway to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) April 2012 deadline for providing subscribers with automatic alerts in times of crisis. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN), based upon the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) specification, is a new public safety system that allows customers to receive geographically targeted messages alerting them of imminent threats (e.g., tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.) in their current location.
GCI is the top provider of voice, data, and video services to Alaska consumers and a leading provider of communication services to enterprise customers. By deploying the Velleros Hosted CMSP Gateway across their wireless and broadband networks, GCI ensures their subscribers have the protection and security of receiving CMAS notifications issued by public safety and governmental agencies. The Velleros location-based emergency alert messaging capability not only allows GCI to comply with the WARN Act, but also enables revenue-generating commercial services such as Community Notification, Local Content Delivery, and Mobile Advertising.
“As a leading regional carrier, GCI is proactively adopting leading edge technology to exceed FCC requirements and deliver clear value to their community,” noted Joe Cobbs, Founder of Velleros. “We congratulate GCI for their support of this vital CMAS service and are very pleased to have them as a customer moving forward.”
“Velleros has far and away the best industry solution for Hosted CMAS and value-added services in the regional carrier market,” commented Terry Nidiffer, Vice President of Product Management and IT for GCI. “Their broad product portfolio and vast technical expertise enables GCI to continue to evolve and innovate for future enhancements.”
About GCI - GCI (NASDAQ: GNCMA) is an Alaska-based company providing voice, video and data communication services to residential, commercial and government customers. Founded in 1979, GCI introduced long-distance competition to Alaska and has since grown to be one of the nation’s premier integrated telecommunication providers. The company employs more than 1,600 Alaskans and has a current run rate of $630 million. GCI has a 45 percent share of the state’s long-distance market, and is the state’s largest provider of internet services with cable modem, wireless and dedicated access. Its cable television services pass 90 percent of the state’s households with 64 percent penetration. Digital cable and cable modem service is available to 99 percent of its subscribers. The company offers facilities-based local telephone services in 22 cities throughout Alaska and has earned a 35 percent statewide market share. GCI’s services are connected through company-owned fiber optic, satellite and metropolitan area network facilities to the Lower 48 states. This broadband platform is the only one of its kind in Alaska and allows the company to provide customized services to the Alaska market. For more information, visit www.gci.com
San Angelo, TX - October 15, 2011 - Velleros, the leading provider of mass notification and content delivery for the regional wireless carriers, announced today that West Central Wireless has selected Velleros’ hosted Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP) Gateway to comply with the government’s new Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) initiative. The solution enables operators to transmit government-issued public safety and weather alert messages to their subscribers in support of the impending mandate.
West Central Wireless serves twenty six counties in Western and Central Texas and provides nationwide communications services for its customers. By deploying the Velleros Hosted CMSP Gateway, West Central ensures their subscribers have the protection and security of receiving CMAS notifications issued by public safety and governmental agencies. Presidential, Imminent Threat, and AMBER alerts will be delivered over the operators’ cellular network directly to subscribers, helping to increase response time and save lives and property when emergencies occur. These geographically-targeted alerts likely represent imminent threats to life, health, and property, and will be delivered quickly to affected constituents.
“West Central Wireless clearly understands the importance of providing communications services that deliver indisputable value and differentiation in the community,” noted Danny Parker, CEO at Velleros. “We applaud West Central Wireless for their support of CMAS and are very pleased to have them as a customer moving forward.”
“Velleros is undoubtedly the industry leader in the deployment of CMAS solutions for the regional carrier market,” commented Griff Griffin, Technical Operations Manager for West Central Wireless. “Their robust platform delivers capability above and beyond the mandate in order to facilitate the service rollout today for all users, as well as enable West Central Wireless to continue to evolve and innovate for future enhancements.”
About West Central Wireless - West Central Wireless is a regional wireless communications provider in West Texas, headquartered in San Angelo, with offices in Brady, Brownwood, and Kerrville, and more than 30 other locations. West Central Wireless provides home GSM services in a 26-county area, utilizing both 850 and 1900 MHz spectrum and has national roaming affiliations to provide nationwide communications services to its customers. West Central Wireless also provides high-speed wireless DSL Internet under the company West Central Net. For more information, visit www.westcentral.com
Honolulu, HI - September 26, 2011 - The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), the the world's largest organization of public safety communications professionals, in combination with the National Emergency Numbering Association (NENA), periodically holds Communications-based Technology Forums in order to best plan next generation technology for public safety. Velleros Founder Joe Cobbs has been selected as a featured presenter at the upcoming APCO/NENA Pacific Chapter Next Generation 911 Forum on September 26-27.
Joe will be presenting a new technology for the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) as a public/private partnership between FCC, FEMA, and the wireless industry. Key Public Safety officials including Police and Fire Department staff, State/Local Government personnel, and Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) staff for E911 call routing will be present at the conference to learn about the beneficial technology to be deployed by mobile carriers in early 2012. Velleros is the leading provider of the CMAS solution to the regional wireless carriers across the US and territories.
Morrisville, NC - September 12, 2011 - Velleros, Inc. announced today that it has partnered with Jinny Software, a leading global provider of messaging, call completion and mobile advertising solutions. Together the companies will offer a complete messaging services solution to worldwide carriers based on the Velleros Aggregation & Syndication Technology (VAST™) carrier-grade content delivery platform along with the industry-leading Jinny messaging platform.
The combined solution is being offered worldwide to wireless carriers as either an in-network deployment or as a hosted service available through Velleros Hosted Services. Several regional US wireless customers have already deployed the Velleros Hosted Service for Commercial Mobile Alerting Service (CMAS). With the Jinny messaging platform as part of this solution, carriers can now grow their service to further offer other value-added and revenue-generating services such as Community Notification, Local Content Delivery, Mobile Applications, and Mobile Advertising.
To see the full Jinny Press Release, please click here.
Las Vegas, NV - April 20, 2011 - Danny Parker, Chief Executive Officer at Velleros, Inc, was recently interviewed by the media agency RCR Wireless during the 2011 Rural Cellular Association (RCA) annual convention and tradeshow. Parker sat down with RCR to discuss a wide range of topics including the WARN Act, Commercial Mobile Alerting Service, and Velleros content delivery solutions for the regional wireless carrier.
Watch the full RCR Wireless video here.
April 15, 2011 — Velleros, Inc. announced today that it will offer a hosted version of its Commercial Mobile Alerting Service (CMAS) solution for those carriers preferring a service bureau approach to satisfying the CMAS requirements. The service will be based on the Velleros Aggregation & Syndication Technology (VAST™) carrier-grade content delivery platform that has been deployed in customer networks since 2008.
Velleros’ CMAS solutions are designed to meet the specific needs of the regional wireless carrier providing for a cost-effective and evolutionary approach to CMAS implementation. By supporting currently available alert delivery methods such as SMS and voice, Velleros enables the carrier to initially address the CMAS requirements utilizing their existing networks. The service can then be seamlessly migrated as new technologies such as cell broadcast are deployed in a timeframe that more naturally fits into the carrier’s business plans.
Velleros views CMAS as more than just another cost-attracting emergency service burden for the carrier. Implemented as a content delivery service on the VAST platform, the Velleros CMAS solution uniquely positions the wireless carrier to participate in the new web services and content delivery value chain by offering an enhanced subscriber experience that both reduces churn and enables new contextual mobile marketing and advertising revenue opportunities. Whether initially beginning with the Velleros hosted service or a VAST in-network deployment, Velleros offers the carrier a flexible and affordable approach to growing its VAST-based value-added services offerings.
“From in-network implementations to hosted services, Velleros offers the most flexible, cost-effective, and future-proof CMAS solution available,” commented Danny Parker, Chief Executive Officer of Velleros. “In designing our CMAS solution, Velleros has worked closely with the regional carriers and has represented their interest to the FCC, to DHS/FEMA, and in the CMAS implementation forums throughout the project. We are proud to be focused on serving the regional carrier community and are pleased to be launching our service bureau offering in response to our customers’ requests.”
March 9, 2011 — Velleros CEO, Danny Parker, recently sat down with Wireless World for a discussion ranging from emergency services to content delivery to mobile advertising. The following are edited excerpts from that interview:
WW: Tell our readers a little bit about your company?
DP: Based in Morrisville, N.C., Velleros enables carriers to derive incremental revenue streams by participating in the value chain for new Web-based content and services combined with highly effective contextual marketing and advertising. The Velleros Aggregation & Syndication Technology (VAST™) platform distributes aggregated content to any network-connected device per user preference, providing a more personalized infotainment experience. VAST applications include CMAS Gateway, Community Notification, Personalized Content Manager, Location-Based Services, and Mobile Marketing & Advertising.
WW: You mentioned CMAS (Commercial Mobile Alerting Service). Please tell us about that.
DP: CMAS is a critical part of the upgrade to our U.S. national security infrastructure as directed by Congress in the Warning and Response Network Act (“WARN Act”) passed in late 2006. In implementing CMAS, the FCC has worked with the wireless industry to leverage the proliferation of mobile devices to more effectively provide timely emergency alerts and notifications to all US citizens.
WW: How can the carrier best satisfy the CMAS requirements?
DP: Good question. The FCC orders for CMAS are “technology neutral,” so each carrier may choose to implement the service in a way that makes the most sense for them, both technically and economically. As a practical matter, we at Velleros believe that an evolutionary approach to CMAS implementation will make the most sense. By that, we mean that carriers can leverage their existing voice and SMS network capabilities to get started, and then take advantage of new technologies such as cell broadcast as they are deployed in a timeframe that fits naturally within the carrier’s business plan.
WW: Is CMAS a service that carriers can charge their subscribers for?
DP: The FCC orders actually prohibit the carriers from charging a subscription fee for CMAS, therefore, many carriers view CMAS as simply another emergency services cost burden on their business. Velleros takes a different approach to CMAS by implementing it as a mobile-content service on our VAST platform. This enables carriers to take advantage of new Web-based content and service delivery to their subscribers in combination with contextual mobile marketing and advertising. Velleros’ VAST technology allows carriers to actually generate a return on their CMAS investment, not just have it be a sunk cost.
WW: What is the Velleros vision for mobile-content delivery?
DP: We understand that traditional carrier business models are under tremendous pressure, particularly as data usage grows. It will become increasingly important for carriers to add value to their subscribers’ experience by leveraging their unique assets to complement the Web-based content and services that their subscribers are accessing over their networks. We are working closely with our customers to leverage our VAST platform to realize the new revenue potential that these value-added capabilities can bring.
WW: Thank you, Danny
January 31, 2011 — The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) jointly announced today that the CMAS Federal Alert Gateway to CMSP Gateway Interface Test Specification was published today as J-STD-102. This specification was developed by the Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee (WTSC) and TIA Engineering Committee TR-45 to detail the operational test procedures over the Reference Point C Interface for CMAS.
Participating as a contributing member of both ATIS and the WTSC, Velleros views the release of the test standard to be vitally important to the implementation of CMAS in the US. Neil Harrington, Velleros VP of Engineering, commented, “This specification signifies a critical milestone for the overall CMAS rollout schedule. Market-ready CMSP products, like the Velleros VAST solution, can now be tested with the Federal Alert Gateway to validate readiness before the ‘Go-Live’ date early next year. We look forward to connecting our CMAS customers to the Federal Alert Gateway to enable this valuable service for their subscribers.”
October 22, 2010 — Nex-Tech Wireless announced today that it is deploying the Velleros CMAS Service Provider (CMSP) Gateway function in support of impending emergency alerting mandate. The solution will be utilized for mass notification and content delivery services and is clear evidence of Nex-Tech Wireless’ commitment to providing communications services that deliver indisputable value and differentiation in the community.
Nex-Tech Wireless has quickly become a preferred wireless provider in Kansas by building a state-of-the-art nationwide 3G network, offering a variety of devices and plans, and by putting the customers at the forefront of their business. Supporting CMAS messaging reinforces the Nex-Tech Wireless brand by providing a valuable service to the community. These geographically-targeted alerts likely represent imminent threats to life, health, and property, and must be delivered quickly to affected constituents.
“Nex-Tech Wireless clearly understands the importance of time-sensitive mass notification to best serve their subscribers,” noted Danny Parker, CEO at Velleros.“We applaud Nex-Tech Wireless for their support of CMAS and are very pleased to have them as a customer moving forward.”
“Velleros is clearly the industry leader in the deployment of CMAS solutions for the regional carrier market,” commented Johnie Johnson, Chief Executive Officer for Nex-Tech Wireless. “Their robust platform delivers capability above and beyond the mandate in order to facilitate the service rollout today for all users, as well as enable Nex-Tech Wireless to continue to evolve and innovate for future enhancements.”
About Nex-Tech Wireless — Nex-Tech Wireless, a subsidiary of Rural Telephone, Golden Belt Telephone and Mutual Telephone, is a premiere wireless provider offering national high-tech wireless solutions to residents in 33 counties of central and western Kansas.Nex-Tech Wireless focuses on providing its customers cutting edge technology including data and mobile services, as well as the latest wireless equipment and competitive wireless plans that provide nationwide coverage. For more information, visit www.nex-techwireless.com.
About Velleros, Inc. - Based in Morrisville NC, Velleros enables carriers to derive incremental revenue streams through new 2.0 web-based content and services combined with highly effective contextual advertising. The Velleros Aggregation & Syndication Technology (VAST™) platform distributes aggregated content to any network connected device per user preference, providing a more personalized infotainment experience. VAST applications include CMAS CMSP Gateway, Community Notification, Personalized Content Manager and Mobile Marketing and Advertising. www.Velleros.com
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- PT (Nasdaq: PTIX), the recently rebranded Performance Technologies, a leading global provider of advanced network communications solutions, today announced a partnership with Velleros, the foremost provider of high capacity aggregation and delivery notification systems for network-aware content. The merged solution leverages PT's SEGway™ and IPnexus® platforms to furnish the CMAS Service Provider (CMSP) Gateway, enabling carriers to transmit emergency alerts over existing telecom networks. The same solution may in turn support revenue generating applications such as Community Notification, Personalized Content Management, and Mobile Marketing and Advertising. PT will distribute and support the combined product through its direct sales channel.
The timely PT-Velleros partnership coincides with the initial testing of a nation-wide program resulting from the Warning Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act. To avoid potential overload of telecom networks in the event of acute emergencies, a specially appointed FCC advisory board persuaded all major U.S. carriers to adopt technology that alerts subscribers to urgent notifications from the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, National Weather Service, and other official organizations and law enforcement agencies. Whether conditions occur on a local or national level, these alerts are geographically targeted, aggregated, and delivered to any end device using multiple methods: voice, message services such as SMS, MMS, cell broadcast, email, and Instant Messaging (IM). Although this is a soft mandate thus far, all carriers must act in accordance by April of 2012.
"We are pleased to partner with Velleros to serve the telecom and government markets, thus continuing to grow our portfolio of cutting edge network-based applications," said John Slusser, president and CEO of PT. "As wireless carriers deploy mass notification technology over the next eighteen months, PT is in a position to be the premier supplier for operators to meet the impending CMAS mandate. To add a twist on 'value-add,' once in place, the platform may be leveraged for revenue-generating signaling and messaging applications to deliver long term value for carriers and government entities."
"This critical technology applies across the globe as operators and governments strive to share critical and time-sensitive information with their constituents," said Danny Parker, CEO of Velleros. "The PT and Velleros solution enables our customers to meet any content notification need in a platform that is reliable, scalable, extensible, and future-proof."
The solution is based upon Velleros Aggregation and Syndication Technology (VAST™), a carrier grade product that delivers alerts and notifications over standard open protocols for mass notification. This approach enables carriers to provide personalized content and life-protecting automatic alerts to a user-defined distribution list for rapid communication of time critical information and warnings. The system can support warning feeds for voice, text, or multimedia-based notifications for tornadoes, hurricanes, and Amber alerts.
VAST integrates new mass alerting capability with existing carrier infrastructure to support full CMAS compliance. It aggregates content from a variety of sources including: CAP, XML, RSS, Web GUI, MMS, SMS, SMPP, and the new CMAS 'C' interface. The platform then provides message filtering, screening, formatting, and dynamic geo-targeting. The alert is subsequently distributed via cell broadcast technology or more traditional notification methods such as voice or SMS. A mix of distribution methods can be utilized in order to effectively reach a broader group of subscribers on any network-connected devices.
The announcement was made at the Rural Cellular Association's 2010 Business and Technical Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Attendees to the conference may learn more about CMAS Gateway and speak to representatives from both companies by visiting the Velleros exhibit at the RCA Conference.
Online Resources
Telecommunications system architects and carrier network engineers needing advanced, signaling and next-generation telecom solutions can learn more about PT.s SEGway and other portfolio offerings by accessing the following online resources:
About PT (www.pt.com)
PT (NASDAQ: PTIX) is a global supplier of advanced network communications solutions to carrier, government, and OEM markets. PT's portfolio includes IP-centric network elements and applications designed for high availability, scalability, and long life cycle deployments. The company's entire line of offerings is anchored by IPnexus®, PT's own IP-native, highly integrated platforms and element management systems. OEMs and application developers, including PT itself, leverage the robust carrier grade Linux® development environment and rich suite of communications protocols (PT's NexusWare®) of IPnexus Application-Ready Systems as a cornerstone component of their end product value proposition. PT's SEGway™ Signaling Solutions provide low cost, high density signaling, advanced routing, IP migration, gateway capabilities, SIP bridge, and core-to-edge distributed intelligence. The company's Xpress™ NGN applications enable evolving Mobile 2.0, Multi-media, and IMS based revenue generating services. PT is headquartered in Rochester, NY and maintains sales and engineering offices around the world.
About Velleros, Inc. (www.velleros.com)
Based in Morrisville NC, Velleros enables carriers to derive incremental revenue streams through new 2.0 web-based content and services combined with highly effective contextual advertising. The Velleros VAST platform distributes aggregated content to any network connected device per user preference, providing a more personalized infotainment experience. VAST applications include CMAS Community Notification, Personalized Content Manager, and Mobile Marketing and Advertising.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and which could impact the Company's financial performance. These statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. The Company's future operating results are subject to various risks and uncertainties and may be affected by various trends and factors which are beyond the Company's control, including customers' acceptance of the Company's new products. Forward-looking statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements, the Notes thereto, Risk Factors, and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company as of December 31, 2009, as contained in the Company.s Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Download full press release to view as a PDF here.
Read the official press release here.
Las Vegas, NV - April 29, 2010 - David Peters, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Velleros, Inc, has been elected to the Rural Cellular Association board of directors. Peters has been affiliated with RCA for 13 years and has been an active participant in the Association, serving on Committees and attending RCA Lobby Days.
RCA is the nation's leading association for wireless providers serving rural areas of the United States.
Read the full RCA press release here.
Morrisville, NC - April 26, 2010 - Plateau Wireless, a subsidiary of Eastern New Mexico Rural (ENMR) Telephone Cooperative, announced today that it has purchased and is in the process of deploying the VAST platform from Velleros to deliver CMAS and mass notification to their customers. The solution is also being utilized for local content delivery services and is clear evidence of Plateau's commitment to providing communications services that deliver indisputable value and differentiation in the community.
“Pursuant to the WARN Act, the FCC has set the timetable for the wireless carriers to support CMAS deployment across the industry,” according to Danny Parker, CEO at Velleros. “The carriers that typically have very strong regional appeal, like Plateau Wireless, are deploying Community Notification and Local Content Delivery solutions today in time for CMAS service roll-out. We are pleased to be providing the capability for Plateau Wireless to enable these valuable services.”
Joel Drahman, COO at Plateau Wireless commented, “We were looking for a solution to flexibly meet Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP) gateway requirements as well as enabling local content delivery in the immediate term. The way we saw it, we could either provide these content services to drive revenue and benefit from the brand recognition, or we could sit back and let out-of-region carriers make the money and congest our networks. The sophisticated Velleros solution, available today, gives us the ability to provide a valuable service to the community and maintain control of our network resources.”
About Plateau - Based in Clovis NM, Plateau is a subsidiary of ENMR, a leader in the telecommunications industry since 1949. Plateau operates on behalf of partnerships to provide advanced wireless communication services in 16 counties of eastern New Mexico and 10 in the Texas Panhandle. The company also operates 15 retail store locations in the region.
About Velleros, Inc. - Based in Morrisville NC, Velleros enables carriers to derive incremental revenue streams through new 2.0 web-based content and services combined with highly effective contextual advertising. The Velleros VAST platform distributes aggregated content to any network connected device per user preference, providing a more personalized infotainment experience. VAST applications include CMAS Ready Community Notification, Personalized Content Manager, and Mobile Marketing and Advertising.
Morrisville, NC - April 20, 2010 - Cellular Network Partnership, a subsidiary of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, has today announced an agreement with Velleros, Inc. to deploy CMAS in their network. Pioneer will purchase the Velleros Aggregation and Syndication Technology (VAST™) platform to launch community notification services in the immediate term. This platform will also support the Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP) gateway function in the pending CMAS architecture.
Pioneer Cellular is one of the first
carriers in the U.S. to take advantage of launching CMAS-ready content
notification services prior to finalization of the Federal Gateway in the CMAS
architecture. These services are powered
by the Velleros VAST platform, the most advanced content aggregation platform
in the market today.
"Pioneer has a long history of serving our local communities with
content-of-interest,” said Richard Ruhl, General Manager of Pioneer
Cellular. “We feel that enabling these
content services for our subscribers goes hand-in-hand with supporting the new
federal mandate for commercial mobile alerting over the existing wireless
network. We are excited to be working
with the leader in this space, Velleros, to be able to create the most value
for our customers. ”
“We've truly reached a tipping point where the wireless carriers are making strategic decisions on deploying CMAS and other value-added notification services,” commented Danny Parker, CEO of Velleros. “We are pleased to have Pioneer as a customer and look forward to working very closely together to enhance their service offering and maximize their market opportunity.”
About Pioneer Cellular - Pioneer Cellular is a Partnership Group comprised of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Inc., KanOkla Telephone Association, South Central Communications of Kansas, and Hinton Cellular Company in Hinton, Oklahoma. Established in 1988, the group serves customers in 28 counties in Western and Southwestern Oklahoma and 14 counties in Southern Kansas. Pioneer Cellular provides services with 3G EVDO Rev A technology such as Picture and Text Messaging, Data Browsing and downloadable BREW™ applications.
About Velleros, Inc. - Based in Morrisville NC, Velleros enables carriers to derive incremental revenue streams through new 2.0 web-based content and services combined with highly effective contextual advertising. The Velleros VAST platform distributes aggregated content to any network connected device per user preference, providing a more personalized infotainment experience. VAST applications include CMAS Ready Community Notification, Personalized Content Manager, and Mobile Marketing and Advertising. www.Velleros.com
Last September, wireless operators had to notify the FCC about whether they intended to participate in the Commercial Mobile Alert System program, which would allow the president, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather Service and myriad local emergency agencies to blast text alerts across their networks in times of emergency. Congress created the program through the WARN Act in 2006 as another step in upgrading public safety and security infrastructure and bridging national and local emergency agencies. Participation in the program, however, is entirely optional, and most carriers opted out.
While that may seem to signal that carriers don't support the government's emergency warning initiatives, Eric Peterson, executive director of the Rural Cellular Association, said that's hardly the case. The problem is that government delays have pushed back the launch of the system until 2010, and FEMA, the agency in charge of implementing the government's part of the infrastructure, hasn't yet developed its message aggregator, nor has it released the technical specifications necessary to interface with it. Operators, Peterson said, simply had no idea what they'd be committing to. “The notion that so many of them opted out has to do with not knowing what basic requirements they'd have to meet,” Peterson said. “It has nothing to do with any lack of commitment to public safety.” Just because they opt out now, doesn't mean those same operators can't opt in later. In fact, they have plenty of incentive to do so. When the service finally does launch, operators that do not participate are obligated to make it very clear to their customers - in their mailed bills, online and in their stores - that they won't be receiving alerts from the president or the local sheriff's department. Regardless of the public relations incentive, Peterson said that most of the RCA's membership would like to participate in the program and not just for the public service benefits. Carriers will be able to use the platforms they put in place for other commercial applications as well, which should help them recoup their investments.
Implementing CMAS isn't as simple as routing government short message service (SMS) dispatches. SMS was designed as a peer-to-peer service, and while carrier SMS centers do handle one-to-many services such as text news alerts, they aren't designed to handle millions of simultaneous alerts. Peer-to-peer SMS also is a grossly inefficient way to handle such traffic, resulting in high operational costs and network congestion. But the biggest problem with current systems is that they track users by phone number, not location. A user whose cell number is registered in California may not need to receive forest fire alerts if he's traveling in Kansas. But he probably needs to get the tornado warning alert for the town he's staying in.
The most effective technology for dealing with these scenarios is cell broadcast, which can be implemented in different forms on both CDMA and GSM networks, said Joe Cobbs, vice president of business development for Velleros, a vendor that builds message alert gateways, including CMAS gateways. Cell broadcast essentially bypasses the home location register and other subscriber databases and transmits to all mobile users in a particular cell, regardless of their identity or roaming status. The technology would allow emergency agencies to target alerts on a cell-by-cell basis, so, for instance, an emergency alert for one county would only be sent to subscribers physically in that county. Cell broadcast isn't exactly a cheap technology to implement, though. It requires upgrades to the mobile switching center and the base station controller, as well as to the base stations themselves. A firmware upgrade for the handset also is required. Some operators may choose to do without cell broadcast, which would allow them to send national alerts but not to target specific local emergency alerts.
While cell broadcast would be the most expensive upgrade, there are several other costs to consider. Carriers will have to interface with the FEMA gateway when it is finally launched, buying their own CMAS gateways to aggregate incoming traffic, Cobbs said. While it makes sense for operators to opt out now until they are aware of the full cost of participating in CMAS, Cobbs believes they will eventually opt in, especially when they have a clearer picture of how they can use the capital investment for their own commercial services. Carriers, for instance, could sell alert services to municipalities looking to broadcast citywide messages to employees. In the wake of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, universities also might have a strong interest in alert systems, which university officials could use to instantly communicate with all students and staff.
“Operators don't want to view CMAS as just a cost,” Cobbs said. “They want to view it as a platform for delivering other services and enhanced revenue.”
http://telephonyonline.com/independent/news/navigating_cmas_090201Mobile AL - August 31, 2008 - As Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on the Gulf coast, Callis Communications provided real-time mass notification service for the students, faculty, parents, and other interested parties at the University of Mobile. The critical alerting system allowed school officials to keep constituents informed with the latest storm information as well as the impact to campus services during the important period.
Partnering with Velleros, Inc., an emerging supplier of high capacity network-aware content notification solutions, Callis Communications is able to provide this emergency alerting to educational institutions, government entities, and key enterprise customers across the nation. Dean Parker, CEO of Callis Communications commented, “During this dire emergency, it was essential that school officials be able to send real-time direction and information to the impacted parties. Working with Velleros has provided this all-important capability to the University to help us protect our community. We are pleased to be providing this vital service for all of our regional clients. The partnership with Velleros enables us to better serve our community for years to come.”
The Velleros solution allows carriers to offer hosted mass notification services to their customers. The Velleros Aggregation and Syndication Technology (VAST™) platform provides a push-notification engine for administrators to create alerts for targeted constituents including educational institutions, government entities, and emergency responders. This capability includes instant dial-out conferencing and IVR polling for time sensitive situations to ensure the community remains responsive when emergencies occur.
Founded in Mobile AL in 1999 as Allpage, Callis Communications is a leading facilities-based Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing hosted, fully-managed IP telephony services to small and medium-sized businesses and organizations on the Gulf Coast. Callis� solutions include hosted PBX, local and long distance phone service, data backup, server collocation, domain, email, and website hosting, and outsourced IT management.
Based in Morrisville NC, Velleros enables carriers to derive incremental revenue streams through new 2.0 web-based content and services combined with highly effective contextual advertising. The Velleros VAST™ platform distributes aggregated content to any network connected device per user preference, providing a more personalized infotainment experience. VAST™ applications include CMAS Ready Community Notification, Personalized Content Manager and Mobile Marketing and Advertising. www.Velleros.com
By Evan Koblentz
WirelessWeek - June 19, 2008
It's not just Tier-1 giants who can fulfill the recent FCC requirement for a national wireless emergency alert system, startups like Velleros and Movius Interactive said.
The small companies are both planning new products catering to second- and third-tier telecommunications providers, which in turn sell to campuses and enterprises.
Joe Cobbs, co-founder and VP of business development at Morrisville, N.C.-based Velleros, said the original plan for his company was to provide weather alerts by voice messages, text messages and email. "There was a market out there for carriers to be in the mass notification space that they weren't aware of," he explained.
The springtime decision from the FCC's Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee validated the market, so Velleros' technology is being upgraded for compliance, Cobbs said.
Service providers could also sell the same technology for use as local and niche content portals, Cobbs said. That could start in 2009 and the product would evolve into a content management system, he said.
Meanwhile, Velleros this week announced Movius as its first reseller. Movius' focus is nationwide so Velleros is looking for regional partners as well.
"They approached us late last year. It aligned with us strategically, it was a very complimentary technology. It's tightly combined all these elements of marketing, community and entertainment," Movius's Earl Philmon, director of product line management said in Duluth, Georgia. Movius is working on technical challenges such as scalability and user interfaces. Its first products based on Velleros' technology will debut early next year, Philmon said. Prices will start at about $100,000 for basic applications.
17th June, 2008
Movius Interactive Corporation Announces Rapid Alert Application
New Mobile Application Enables Carriers to Deliver Timely Alerts and Notifications
JOHNS CREEK, GA - June 17, 2008 - Movius Interactive Corporation (Movius), a global leader in messaging, collaboration and mobile media solutions, today announced Rapid Alert, a new messaging application that enables carriers to quickly deliver important alerts and personal notification content to subscribers.. Developed in partnership with Velleros, an emerging provider of high-capacity, network-aware content-notification systems, Rapid Alert enables carriers to deliver mass notifications of information such as news, sports, community events and alerts like Amber and severe weather to customers based on user-defined delivery options including short message service (SMS), synthesized voice and email.
"We find the introduction of this service very timely as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that it will soon mandate a commercial mobile alert system (CMAS) for all mobile services providers," said Oscar Rodriguez, CEO at Movius. "With the Movius Rapid Alert application, carriers can easily offer this alert and notification service to subscribers, which will enable them to quickly deliver desired content and severe and catastrophic event information that can help protect property and lives."
Traditional alert notification solutions used by municipalities today are limited in that they do not offer comprehensive delivery options that focus on consumer's growing reliance on mobile phones. Instead they rely on call-tree systems that can be difficult to manage and take valuable time to deliver messages and track results; email distribution solutions that cannot reach impacted residents if they are not online; and voice mail distributions that only reach users that have been included in the system. Movius Rapid Alert offers a full range of delivery options and the versatility to prioritize the notification method.
U.S. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, in The Commercial Mobile Alert System, First Report and Order, PS Docket No. 07-287 stated: "With the American public increasingly relying on wireless communications in everyday life, it is essential that we support and advance new ways to share critical, time-sensitive information with them in times of crisis. The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families prior to, and during, disasters and other emergencies."
Movius Rapid Alert is a carrier grade solution that delivers the performance and reliability carriers require. Rapid Alert delivers alerts and notifications over standard open protocols for mass notification. This approach enables carriers to provide personalized content and life-protecting automatic alerts to a user-defined distribution list for rapid communication of time sensitive information and warnings. The system can support National Weather Service and Pacific Tsunami Warning feeds for voice and text based notifications for tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes and Amber alerts.
For municipal environments, the Rapid Alert application also supports community notification, which allows educational institutions to push alerts and provides response and feedback mechanisms. State and local governments can leverage this application for real-time communication and response mobilization. Rapid Alert also offers a call-attempt notification service that can trigger a real-time automatic notification to friends and relatives when a user attempts to call 911.
Movius will be demonstrating Rapid Alert along with other messaging, collaboration and interactive mobile media solutions in booth SL4116 at NXTcomm08, June 16-19, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Based in Morrisville, N.C., Velleros, Inc. was founded with the vision of being the first mover company to deliver new revenue-generating web-enabled content and services to the network connected consumer mass market. These services promote our customers, the telecommunications carriers, to the forefront of the impending paradigm called Voice 2.0, where voice and the web converge. The Velleros AlertSlinger platform enables carrier customers to deliver feature-rich services and content such as the All-Hazards Gateway, Campus Alerting (CAMLOCTM), State/Local Government Notification (STALOTM), Call Attempt Notifier (N-911TM), Content Aggregation Suite (V-CASTM), and TelePop™. For more information about Velleros, please visit http://www.velleros.com/
Movius Interactive Corporation gives people the power to enrich their lives through viable innovations that transform the way they interact with information, media and each other. Formally under the name IP Unity Glenayre, Movius is a recognized leader in messaging, collaboration and mobile media solutions for service providers worldwide.
21st April, 2008
New Orleans LA, April 22, 2008 - Velleros today announced that it is presenting its high-capacity, network-aware content notification solutions at the MetaSwitch Forum in New Orleans LA. The event runs from April 22 to 24, and draws representatives from service providers, large enterprises, and government agencies that want information about switching technology and applications innovation.
The presentation of emergency alerting applications is being led by Velleros' Dave LeClaire, vice president of sales. "Velleros participates in these events to promote the content notification as a revenue-generating service for existing network providers," said LeClaire. "The MetaSwitch Forum is a great networking event where service providers come to learn about the carrier-grade AlertSlinger capability in VoIP, wireline, or wireless networks by flexibly delivering content notifications via voice call, short message, instant message, or email."
9th April, 2008
Morrisville NC, April 9, 2008 - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released its decision to approve a nationwide alert system for timely communication of emergencies. Under the plan, the FCC will appoint a federal agency to create the messages and pass them on to service providers, an FCC representative said earlier. Once that agency is named, the participating providers will have 10 months to comply with the new system requirements.
Velleros Inc., an emerging provider of high capacity network-aware content notification systems immediately responded to the decision with the following quote from Jay Whitehurst, Velleros' Chairman: "We are very pleased that the FCC has supported the impending requirement for a country-wide notification system. We firmly believe that service providers have a civic duty to provide mass communications that can be utilized during an emergency. Carriers have robust networks that when enabled with Velleros notification capability can help protect lives and property in times of need. Velleros is been proud to participate in the plan for the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) and we look forward to deploying our compliant AlertSlinger solution with carrier customers over the next few months.
Velleros commends the FCC commissioners for reviewing the CMAS proposal and making the right choice to further the recommendation. We also recognize the dedicated contributors within the wireless community that have since approved the decision and verified their participation in deployment. This decision ultimately protects us all.
13 March, 2008
Notification solution vendor Velleros has a message for carriers, stated in the company's blog: It is the carrier's civic duty to provide mass communications portals that local officials can use during an emergency and leverage their robust networks to help save lives. The company, which received its series-A funding in January, is launching a full-force campaign to ensure they do just that. Velleros, a supplier of high-capacity, network-aware content notification platforms, recently released its
AlertSlinger, a suite of applications that automatically notifies a user-defined distribution list based on certain inbound and outbound calls. At the Comptel show in February, Velleros announced its first customer to deploy the platform. Houston-based i3, a wholesale network provider and aggregator, will offer the hosted solution to its 55,000 VoIP subscribers, cable MSOs, large enterprises and other carriers. While no other announcements have been made, Velleros is currently in trials with several other carriers and plans to sign deals within the year.
With AlertSlinger, users define how they want to receive alerts, whether over SMS, wireless or wireline voice call: VoIP, instant message or email. Depending on the services the carrier, Velleros's target customer, offers, its consumers can also select their notification method contingent on the nature of the alert. Joe Cobbs, vice president of operations for Velleros, envisions the alerting service being used for any type of weather alert, civic emergency such as a chemical spill, campus or University crisis or in the enterprise space.
The company's founders come from backgrounds in software and media gateway manufacturing. Combined, founder and vice president of business development Taren Patterson and Cobbs have more than 30 years of experience in telecom, with careers forged at Tekelec and Nortel's Genband center. Patterson said Vellero's heritage building robust carrier networks is what makes them well-suited to address the rapidly growing need for an emergency alert system.
"We saw the need last year," he said. "This space was going to heat up, especially with the events taking place, and we thought the carriers were the best, most logical provider based on the kind of network they already provide to add this type of service to the portfolio." For the most part, carriers today do not offer any type of emergency alert system, yet most are looking at ways to incorporate it into their offerings. Patterson said that the solutions that do already exist for alerting, primarily from content aggregators, are largely inadequate. Most rely on email to SMS message solutions, which is both unreliable and extremely slow. According to Patterson, it has been well documented that the wrong people were hosting these solutions. As emergency situations are times of heavy network congestion, something more had to be done.
The solution Velleros came up with is all IP-based to offer more flexibility in managing network congestion. The platform resembles a softswitch with the capability of routing and translating groups of messages through various networks � both public and private, defined through software. The technology works as a push device to deliver the message through the appropriate network to the appropriate end user. Velleros has several patent-pending software algorithms to enable this network congestion control and throttling.
"We can throttle messaging at different rates to each one of the network elements individually," Patterson said. "So, we are never going to exhaust a given route through the network. It allows our carrier customers to engineer the capacity versus just dumping as many messages as possible onto a network. This works really well from an SMS standpoint."
One AlertSlinger chassis can notify at a rate of 576,000 voice-calls per hour assuming a 30-second hold time in addition to SMS messages and emails that are sent. According to the company's blog, this totals more than one million people that can be alerted per hour.
"We put that responsibility, that capability, to the carrier to be able to throttle the calls that come out over their network equipment, so they don't overload a switch or an MSC or downstream base station if it's a local area," Cobbs said. "Especially on the messaging side, because you would flood the local switch with SMSs and potentially bring it down. The more carriers we spoke to, the more important it was that we were able to do something to help them be able to provide network-aware throttling."
The Virginia Tech massacre and Hurricane Katrina serve as the flagship examples of why a service like this needed. Yet as school shooting or natural disasters continue to occur, the need for this type of service is continually validated, Cobbs said. As such, the service has gotten positive feedback from the carriers Velleros has approached.
"They don't offer the service, and they think that they can add to the portfolio relatively cheaply," he said. "It is an application that sits on their network as it is today, and they can potentially get additional revenue or they can better service their community. There is many ways they are spinning this to improve their image, reinforce their brand and make some more money."
The business model for the service is at the carrier's discretion, but Cobbs envisions a subscription service being the most viable. Other methods could include a pay-per-use model for situations, like an emergency, where the usage would be confined to a short timeframe. He also could see the service being paid for by the city or community using it for weather alerts and other notifications. Down the line, using advertisements to subsidize the cost of the emergency alerts is another practical option.
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