[March 15, 2005]

Intrado and Casabyte Team for Wireless E9-1-1 Location Testing

BY JOHANNE TORRES

In an effort to develop solutions that help wireless carriers comply with FCC Accuracy requirements, Intrado Inc. and Casabyte established an alliance announced by the companies today. Intrado, a provider of integrated data and telecom solutions, and Casabyte, Inc., a provider of automated end-to-end service quality monitoring technology, today introduced an automated Accuracy Compliance Testing (ACT) solution designed to provide wireless carriers the ability to satisfy location testing and verification objectives of E9-1-1 calls as required by the FCC for Phase II deployments.

The companies formed an alliance to develop the ACT solution based on Casabyte's patented Remote Cellular Automated Testing System (RCATS). RCATS enables wireless service providers to access real-time, network-wide performance and location information.

"By using the automated Accuracy Compliance Testing solution, wireless carriers can streamline the manual location testing process and increase operational efficiencies of their wireless E9-1-1 deployments," said Dan Hoskins, Intrado senior vice president sales and market development.

The Intrado Accuracy Compliance Testing system, the company explained, provides a comprehensive alternative to manual drive testing of wireless location technologies while increasing the end-user's confidence in wireless E9-1-1 services for emergency calls via any mobile phone. According to Intrado, by providing the capabilities to automatically monitor the health of the emergency services network, carriers can proactively track the location of wireless emergency calls, therefore minimizing the amount of time, money and effort spent on repeated compliance testing.

"Intrado and Casabyte recognize the importance of enabling carriers to validate the availability and accuracy of E9-1-1 service continuously across many locations," said Ken Hosac, Casabyte director of product management. "Our alliance integrates the Casabyte RCATS solution with Intrado's E9-1-1 infrastructure, resulting in a complete, automated end-to-end solution to validate wireless E9-1-1 service from an end-customer perspective."

I initially reported on Intrado’s E9-1-1 efforts when it partnered with Vonage Holdings to roll out a state-wide E911 coverage plan in Rhode Island back in October. According to Vonage’s Jeffrey Citron, the company was contacted by the state of Rhode Island wanting to possibly resolve the problem which haunts the VoIP industry—the inability to safely rely on E911 for emergency calls via a VoIP connection. Citron gave an overall explanation of Vonage’s technology deal with Intrado, which is currently working with the VoIP pioneer in this effort.

Intrado
www.intrado.com

Casabyte, Inc.
www.casabyte.com