PlantCML(R) Enhances Charlotte County, Florida, 9-1-1 Capability With Next-Generation Call Processing Solution

TEMECULA, CA--(Marketwire - August 18, 2009) - Charlotte County, Florida, 9-1-1 has selected Sentinel® Patriot®, a geo-diverse, next-generation call processing solution from PlantCML®, for three of its Emergency Communication Centers (ECC): Charlotte County ECC; Charlotte County Sheriff; and Punta Gorda Police Department. In collaboration with Motorola, PlantCML upgraded the three call centers from the existing PlantCML VESTA® Standard and VESTA® Pallas® call processing solutions to Sentinel Patriot, the PBX-based Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) solution.

"When you serve a county that is comprised of 693 square miles of land and 165 square miles of coastal and inter-coastal waterways, it is imperative to have one call processing solution working across our three call centers," said Janet Hamilton, Director of 9-1-1, Charlotte County 9-1-1. "Should another weather emergency hit our area, like Hurricane Charley did in 2004, we will have the redundancy in place to receive more emergency calls from our citizens."

"This interoperability also allows management to see and manage all three sites from one central location, and to assign call takers for duty at the various sites for greater efficiency. We've been very satisfied with the customer service and support from PlantCML and are proud to continue the relationship," continued Hamilton.

In 2007, Charlotte County 9-1-1 received more than 220,000 calls for services, up nearly 54 percent from the preceding five years. With more than 141,000 citizens and an estimated 1.9 percent annual growth rate until 2020, Charlotte County 9-1-1 expects the call volume to continue to increase.

"Charlotte County 9-1-1 has been a PlantCML customer for more than 10 years and we are pleased that they continue to trust our solutions for the safety of their citizens. In 2004, we worked with them to get their call center up and running almost immediately after Hurricane Charley, which was necessary to assist the citizens and visitors during that horrific time," said Dave Rutan, PlantCML CEO. "Now they have geo-diverse sites for backup and maximum efficiency, which will ultimately save lives."

"Charlotte County is projected to remain a community heavily populated with citizens 65 years of age or older and is the county with the highest percentage of people over 65 in the United States. It's important for Charlotte County 9-1-1 to deploy the most advanced emergency communications to protect the citizens should another disaster strike," said Mike Harrington, Account Executive, Motorola.

The Sentinel® Patriot® call processing solution is an IP-enabled offering with highly flexible configurations to meet the needs of small- to medium-sized call centers. It features a fully integrated PBX, differentiating it with automatic hot redundancy of servers and no single point of system failure. The Sentinel Patriot solution also offers a full suite of computer telephony features, including Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and Automatic Location Identification (ALI).

About PlantCML (www.plantcml.com)

PlantCML, an EADS North America company, is the industry's leading provider of crisis communications and response technologies. Today, PlantCML is pioneering the next generation of E9-1-1 and secure network communications through Voice over IP-enabled applications, interoperable P25 radio systems and advanced emergency notification technologies. PlantCML's solutions are resident in 14 of the top 20 most populous U.S. cities and largest first responder operations.

About EADS North America (www.eadsnorthamerica.com)

EADS North America is the North American operation of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services. As a leader in all sectors of defense and homeland security, EADS North America and its parent company, EADS, contribute over $11 billion to the U.S. economy annually and support more than 200,000 American jobs through its network of suppliers and services. Operating in 17 states, EADS North America offers a broad array of advanced solutions to its customers in the commercial, homeland security, aerospace and defense markets.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Tami Timperio VP, Global Marketing Communications PlantCML®, an EADS North America Company Tel: 951.719.2423 Email: ttimperio@plantcml.com