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Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol Arms Thurston County Police With Wireless Real-Time Crime-Fighting Information
MARLBOROUGH, Mass., March 21, 2000-- Cerulean and AT&T Wireless CDPD-based solution replaces voice
dispatch system; improves emergency response time and increases
officer safety and efficiency
Cerulean Technology(R) today announced the Thurston County, Wash., Department of
Communications (CAPCOM) will use PacketCluster Patrol(R) mobile software to provide patrol
officers with immediate access to critical law enforcement information managed by the Washington
State Patrol. Cerulean's wireless mobile software, running on a cellular digital packet data
(CDPD)-based AT&T Wireless service, will allow Thurston County to more efficiently and safely
respond to emergency calls for more than 210,000 people across 750 square miles.
Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol software will make criminal information from Thurston County's
computer aided dispatch system (CAD) and several national, state and local databases quickly
available to officers on patrol. Officers will also be able to tap into the Washington State Patrol
ACCESS system, which holds hundreds of licensing and criminal history files.
Thurston County will use PacketCluster Patrol's open architecture application to wirelessly link
laptop computers mounted in 100 patrol vehicles with criminal and motor vehicle databases. Through
Cerulean's partnership with AT&T, CAPCOM will use AT&T Wireless CDPD service to quickly
connect laptops to the department's local area network (LAN), which will query law enforcement
databases for criminal history and vehicle and driver registration information. Using AT&T's reliable
and high-speed CDPD infrastructure, CAPCOM did not need to build a new radio frequency
infrastructure, eliminating an expensive and time-consuming process.
Reduced radio traffic will improve response times
Before Cerulean, officers and public safety personnel from seven law enforcement agencies and 18
fire departments across the county relied on a single manual radio dispatch system to obtain law
enforcement data from the field. At times, officers and public safety personnel had to wait several
minutes for potentially life-saving information, such as addresses, license plate and criminal history
data from dispatchers.
With PacketCluster Patrol, officers can access this information in real time, enabling them to make
on-the-spot arrests. Cerulean's wireless computing technology will also dramatically reduce radio
traffic between officers and dispatchers. This will enable dispatchers to assist and properly route
emergency calls, while monitoring law enforcement activities to ensure officer safety in the field.
Reduced radio traffic will also free dispatchers' time, once consumed by routine information requests,
to actively track emergency calls and quickly respond to an officer's request for back-up
enforcement, for example.
"We needed to reduce the congestion on our radio channels and reduce the number of data
requests dispatchers relayed each day," said Jim Quackenbush, director of communications at
CAPCOM. "We see Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol mobile computing system as a way to reduce
that congestion, while enabling our officers and other public safety personnel to access the information
they need from the field to work more efficiently and safely."
PacketCluster encryption protects transmission of sensitive information
CAPCOM also needed a mobile computing system that would enable them to communicate
without potential criminals eavesdropping on their calls. Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol enables
real-time silent communication between CAPCOM and mobile units for the transfer of sensitive
information and calls for quick back-up.
"The objectives of most public safety agencies are to ensure officer safety, while maintaining
efficiency and productivity. CAPCOM is no exception. Like many organizations, it needed to
overhaul its communications system to support its mission," said David Rosi, vice president of
marketing at Cerulean Technology. "Using PacketCluster Patrol, the agency can drastically reduce
radio dispatchers' workload, while improving officer safety and efficiency. They now know each
officer on the street has on-the-spot access to potentially life-saving information, and can reach a
dispatcher immediately to call for back-up or relay an urgent message."
About PacketCluster Patrol
PacketCluster Patrol is an open, standards-based wireless information software product that
provides police officers in the field with direct access to motor vehicle and warrant information within
seconds, reducing risk in potentially dangerous situations. Instead of relying on two-way radio calls to
busy dispatchers for limited information, officers can tap into a wireless computer network from
laptop computers in their cruisers to get complete motor vehicle and warrant information. The highly
adaptable software can be run over all popular public or private wireless networks such as
conventional radio frequencies and advanced cellular digital packet data (CDPD) networks.
PacketCluster Patrol also improves officer and public safety by enabling real-time silent
communication between police headquarters and mobile units for quick back up.
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.
PacketCluster is a registered trademark, and PacketCluster Patrol and Cerulean are trademarks of
Cerulean Technology
CONTACT: Beaupre & Co. Public Relations, Inc.
Deb Dargie
(603) 559-5826
ddargie@beaupre.com
or
Cerulean Technology Inc.
David Grip
(508) 486-4184
dgrip@cerulean.com
www.cerulean.com
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