Campus/Facility Mass Notification Solutions Available Today But Not Often Implemented, According to Experts.

Webcast Attracts Hundreds of Safety/Security Officials From Universities, Hospitals and Other Entities

LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- With today's fear of violence, terrorist attacks and natural disasters, a wide range of mass notification solutions are widely available yet underutilized by campus/facility decision makers, according to experts. Instead, security officials tend to look for a single, technology-based solution that will most likely not meet their needs or those of the people they are charged with protecting.

A panel of campus security experts, university officials and notification systems providers discussed the issue via a Webcast yesterday about mass notification on today's college campuses, hospital grounds, plants and other facilities. The overriding theme was that many decision makers have either not done anything in terms of systems and procedures or mistakenly selected one type of mass notification technology from a vendor, thinking they have their situation(s) covered. In fact, a survey of Webcast registrants found that only 24% have policies/procedures in place for mass notification.

Cooper Wheelock, Inc., the global leader in mass notification solutions, yesterday co-sponsored the Webcast with Campus Safety magazine to educate administrators and safety/security professionals for universities, school districts, hospitals, police departments and other types of facilities.

The one-hour Webcast featured Campus Safety Editor Robin Gray as the moderator and a panel of experts including: William Sako, Chairman of the Board of Sako & Associates, Inc. and Senior Vice President Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc., two of the premier mass notification consulting firms in the nation; Lei Wei, Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Central Florida, who conducted comprehensive research on emergency alert systems and mobile communications; and Dr. Alan Avidan, Sr. Vice President and Founder, MadahCom, a recognized leader in emergency control and mass notification solutions which was recently acquired by Cooper Wheelock.

More than 320 people participated in the Webcast including officials from small and large colleges and universities including Columbia, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Vanderbilt, Washington State and Wellesley, and hospitals including the City of Hope Medical Center, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic.

The presenters discussed today's challenges and explained why campuses need more reliable, intrusive, mass notification systems in addition to today's newest technologies (SMS, e-mail, etc). They also answered questions submitted by Webcast attendees. Some of the main points of the Webcast included:

* There should be an assessment of needs, risks, geographic layout and solutions to a variety of situations before making any decisions.

* When considering where to start the process, the first thing you have to do is start with a risk assessment procedure. This is where you can find out what your campus/area needs are, what you want to accomplish and what technologies are available to help you get there. You can't rely on technology that doesn't perform in bad weather situations. You need to start with an Indoor/Outdoor paging system, but it's not enough - you need a myriad of solutions that could include sirens, signage, cell phone, email and other technologies to make sure you're covered.

* There is no single solution, and every campus has different risks and needs. Examples of universal ways to launch messages include digital messages embedded in wave files, cell phone text messages, voicemails, campus FM radio and campus TV

* Facilities should perform testing quarterly. In the real world, most facilities perform fire drills annually, and that is not enough.

* The scope and breadth of mass notification systems are overlooked today. Everyone looks for an immediate panacea to say that they're covered, but no such thing exists. There needs to be a hybrid of technologies utilized. Buying technology doesn't solve the problem, you need to plan, train and use it.

* Common mistakes include:

    -- Having only one outdoor siren. That will never reach all of the
       people necessary.

    -- Again, relying on one technology. Some forms, such as phone,
       email, etc., can be irrelevant when you're dealing with a
       weather-related emergency (loss of power or signal) or when
       people are asleep, or in a classroom or hospital setting where
       cell phones are supposed to be turned off. You need to cover
       all aspects and be intrusive so that everyone is aware of the
       situation, where to go and what to do. Also, technology can be
       limiting such as in the case of a cell tower not being able to
       handle the sheer volume of messages or calls during an
       emergency.

* Officials can face resistance in getting students to buy-in to the need for a mass notification system. The cell phone won't always work with students because more than 50% of students don't want to give their number to the school administration as part of a privacy issue. With strictly cell phone notification, you'd only reach about 10-15% of the students/faculty. When you use advertisements to pay off the notification system, as some do, you become part of the "Cry Wolf Syndrome" and students will disregard all messages. There is a difference between Mass Notification Systems and Emergency Mass Notification Systems. Emergency Mass Notification Systems are not compatible with cell phones on a campus.

Cooper Wheelock recently acquired MadahCom, Inc., a Florida-based manufacturer of secure wireless emergency control and mass notification systems. The company currently has more than 200 installations worldwide at a variety of institutional, industrial, military and commercial environments.

"MadahCom's capabilities in wireless technology deliver the industry-leading solution in the rapidly growing mass notification market, where delivering the right message to the right people at the right time is paramount for evacuation and security," said Cooper Wheelock Vice President, Jim McDaniel.

MadahCom's flagship products, WAVES (Wireless Audio Visual Emergency System) and TACWAVES (Tactical WAVES), a portable alerting system, are personnel and public warning systems and feature sophisticated command and control software to activate safety sirens, customized voice messages and visual alerts via secure networks. The WAVES system also utilizes various other modes of communication including SMS, desktop alerting and dial-out systems. WAVES is classified as Commercial-Off-The-Shelf by the United States Department of Defense, making it acceptable to the widest range of government and military applications, and it is the only personnel alerting system that meets all of the Pentagon Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate requirements for force protection at military bases.

About Cooper Wheelock

Cooper Wheelock, Inc., is an affiliate of Cooper Menvier, a division of Cooper Industries, Ltd. Cooper Wheelock is the global leader in notification, focused on meeting the growing demand for personnel and property safety. The company provides notification solutions including fire and security notification appliances, notification systems and industrial signaling products for government, healthcare, education and industry. For more information, please visit www.cooperwheelock.com.

About Cooper Industries

Cooper Industries, Ltd. is a global manufacturer with 2006 revenues of $5.2 billion, approximately 85 percent of which are from electrical products. Incorporated in Bermuda with administrative headquarters in Houston, Cooper employs approximately 31,000 people and operates eight divisions: Cooper B-Line, Cooper Bussmann, Cooper Crouse-Hinds, Cooper Lighting, Cooper Menvier, Cooper Power Systems, Cooper Wiring Devices and Cooper Tools Group. Cooper Connection provides a common marketing and selling platform for Cooper's sales to electrical distributors. For more information, visit the website at www.cooperindustries.com.