Cook County Adopts Advanced E-911 System; Advanced Crisis Response Solution From RedSky Technologies Offers Additional Protections for Employees, Work Sites.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 2002

Cook County has adopted an enhanced 911 (E-911) crisis response solution from RedSky Technologies, Inc. to provide additional protections for its 26,700 employees at all of its work sites.

As one of the nation's largest county employers, Cook County becomes one of the first government entities in the country to ensure that firemen, police and paramedics can pinpoint the location of a 911 caller within a government facility.

Cook County Board President John Stroger initiated the communications enhancement, securing county board approval of a $350,000 contract with RedSky.

"Now, if an emergency call is made from any of the county's telephone stations, Cook County's telephone system will automatically notify emergency response officials of the location of the caller," Stroger said. "Identifying the exact location enables emergency response officials to get to the scene quicker so they can provide timely assistance."

"With the E-911 system, county premises are appreciably safer for employees and visitors," said Catherine Maras O'Leary, Cook County's chief information officer. "The system models government leadership in leveraging technology to add workplace protections."

With the RedSky Cielo E-911 solution, if a new employee is hired or someone changes offices, for example, telephone extension and location information can be easily and quickly sent from the company's telephone system to the national database that stores E-911 information. As a result, an emergency dispatcher knows the caller's street address and location within a building, such as the west hallway on the 9th floor, when they receive the call. With basic 911 service, an emergency center knows only the billing address for the phone system from which the call originated.

"Cook County now has the ability to efficiently maintain and transmit station-specific location information," said Anthony Maier, RedSky's president and chief executive officer. "At a time when seconds count, the system could mean the difference between life or death."

About 10 percent of 911 calls come from offices and public facilities. Most institutions either maintain a manual E-911 system, or don't have the ability to send station location information. RedSky's E-911 solution is the only automated solution of its kind in the U.S.

Last year, Cook County surveyed the market and contracted with RedSky Technologies to implement its centralized E-911 system, plus other telemanagement solutions for call accounting, telephone work orders and directory management. Implementation included audit services, software installation, data integration and system testing. The automated systems are expected to contribute appreciably to a 15 to 20 percent cost reduction for the county's telecommunications operations.

About RedSky: RedSky Technologies (www.redskytech.com) is a performance platform provider that enables enterprises to realize maximum returns on their telecommunications investments. Its Cielo Software Platform dramatically increases business agility and performance for E-911 service, call accounting, directory management, and telecom work orders and assets. A Deloitte & Touche "Fast 50" company and Chicago Software Association "Rising Star" award winner, RedSky has established a diversified portfolio of clients, including Bank One, Quaker Oats, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, UBS Warburg, Discover Financial, Grant Thornton, Leo Burnett, Nextel and Safeco Insurance.