Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol Serves as Communications Lifeline for Tarrant County Emergency Crews and Tornado Victims.

Business/Technology Editors

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2000

Using Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol(TM) as their only major communications lifeline, Tarrant County, Texas emergency crews helped approximately 130,000 residents of Fort Worth and surrounding towns to safety during the recent devastating tornados.

Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol, running on a cellular digital packet data (CDPD)-based AT&T Wireless service using Itronix ruggedized laptops, enabled deputies at the Tarrant County Sheriff's office to respond to emergency calls or request back up in seconds. On Tuesday, March 28th at least two tornados touched down in Tarrant County, destroying homes and communities in Fort Worth, the county's largest city, and surrounding areas. The storms immediately cut power lines and rendered most wireless communications useless.

"Once the storms hit, virtually all communication systems went dead. With the PacketCluster(R) CDPD-based software still up and running, we were able to get emergency calls out to our deputies and storm crews," said Lt. Robert Durko at the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office. "We brought a laptop equipped with PacketCluster into our Emergency Operations Center to help with command and control. Without it, thousands of people might have been without vital emergency help."

Tarrant County used PacketCluster to coordinate placement of deputies for emergency traffic and crowd control in the county during the tornados. "PacketCluster made it a lot easier to marshal and deploy our forces, since other communications were down," Durko said.

The Tarrant County tornado rescue is an example of how PacketCluster Patrol quickly connects officers in the field with emergency calls and vital information. With instant car-to-car and car-to-headquarters communications and real-time law enforcement information, deputies can quickly and safely respond to life-threatening situations.

Before implementing PacketCluster Patrol, Tarrant County deputies used mobile data terminals that were hard-mounted in patrol cars. With the PacketCluster mobile solution, officers now have the ability to access vital information anywhere. This capability allowed supervisors to move the laptops into the command center during the storms, enabling crews to use PacketCluster to dispatch officers and respond to emergencies.

Ease-of-use allows for quick implementation

Unlike competing solutions that take months to deploy, Tarrant County implemented Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol in just three days and trained all personnel within one week. In the first phase of the project, Tarrant County is using the standards-based application to wirelessly link laptop computers mounted in 45 patrol cars with information from county, state and other criminal and motor vehicle databases. More than 70 vehicles from several agencies, including the fire department and emergency operations, will be equipped with PacketCluster by the time the project is completed.

Since November 1999, Tarrant's patrol officers have had instant access to important law enforcement information and real-time communications. In addition to current applications for car-to-car messaging and state interface, Tarrant County plans to deploy field reporting and other applications to help protect and serve the 1,300,000 people living in Tarrant County.

"We thought deploying a new wireless communications and information system would take months and just about as long to train personnel and bring them up to speed on the system. On the contrary, we easily did it alongside our Y2K upgrades and had all of our units up and running in just a few short weeks. This is just the genesis of the project -- we plan to extend PacketCluster to other departments and functions as well," Durko said.

About Cerulean Technology, Inc.

Marlborough, Mass.-based Cerulean Technology, Inc., is the leader in wireless application solutions for mobile workforces in public safety. More than 40,000 users at 650 public safety agencies use Cerulean software to keep neighborhoods and streets safer across the United States. Cerulean's PacketCluster represents the de facto standard in public safety mobile applications. The PacketCluster suite of products are sold through a direct sales force and a network of worldwide systems integrators and carriers, including AT&T Wireless, Bell Atlantic Mobile, GTE, Mobex and more than 50 others. For more information, visit Cerulean's Web site at www.cerulean.com.

Cerulean, PacketCluster Patrol and PacketCluster are registered trademarks of Cerulean Technology.