[April 18, 2006]

On 100th Anniversary of 1906 Earthquake, San Francisco Seen as Unprepared for the 'Next Big One' - Coach2100 Command & Control System Provides Response Solution

SAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)-- April 18, 2006 -- Coach2100, Inc.: Coordination of Emergency Response is a Critically Important Area Where Solutions Are Lacking; Coach2100 Command & Control System Marks Breakthrough in Reliable, Secure Communications for Police, Firefighters, and Other 'First Responders'

Today, the centennial of the San Francisco earthquake, the big question is: how well is the Bay Area prepared for the next Big One? In recent years, there have been dramatic advances in reducing earthquake vulnerability and loss through changes in planning, preparedness, building codes, education, and training. Nevertheless, the consensus among scientists, engineers and other experts is that we are not yet ready for the next, inevitable, great earthquake.

A critically important area of preparedness centers on the efforts of government leaders and fire, police, and medical care officials to have solid command and control of emergency response and the entire chain of command. In this regard, close coordination and communication among all agencies and emergency responders is essential to minimize loss of life and destruction to property. Currently however, San Francisco -- like almost all U.S. cities -- falls woefully short. It does not have a reliable command and control system utilizing secure communication that allows police, firefighters and other responders to coordinate with command and with one another to aid recovery efforts. Their primary means of communication continues to be conventional radio, which entails incompatible radio frequencies, equipment malfunction, and failure and risk of destruction in a catastrophic event. Conventional radio cannot cross all agencies and risks lost time in efforts to communicate accurately.

Marriage of digital satellite communications and Internet technologies to the rescue

Fortunately, a new breed of technology is coming to the rescue. Its hallmark is the use of digital satellite communications and the Internet to implement a complete robust, real time COMMAND & CONTROL system solution. The leading implementation of this new technology is Coach2100 Command & Control from Coach2100, Inc.

Even in the event of an extensively damaged infrastructure -- e.g., destroyed power and communications lines, transmitters, and generation stations -- the Coach2100 system remains always up and running. Emergency responders at command sites or in the field have continual access to information and a means of continually communicating across all agencies at the same time via a satellite modem, battery pack and any Internet-connectable device such as a laptop, PDA or cellphone. The result: 24 x 7 communications during a disaster, leveraging Coach2100's multiple distributed, fully redundant servers positioned at strategic safe locations across the continent.

Coach2100 Command & Control marks a critical breakthrough in disaster preparedness. Until now, there has been no true high-availability command and control system with communication capability to connect fire, police, medical, military and other responders at all government and important civilian levels -- from local municipalities to the national guard, the coast guard, the red cross, the salvation army, state, tribal and federal agencies. The implications of this technology are profound for the command and control of emergency response 'best practices' that San Francisco and other Bay Area cities need to implement in their preparations for another 1906-size earthquake.

"We are pleased with the response we are receiving from leadership who are reaching out to solve the challenges of command and control," said Coach2100 president James Camp. "I have been told we are a 'disruptive technology' that is changing the way people think about command and control and communications. Coach2100 is a completely new way of bringing the chain of command and supporters of the chain of command into lock step in crisis situations."

About Coach2100

Coach2100, Inc. was founded in 1998 to provide off-the-shelf, web-based collaborative software solutions. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Coach2100's management recognized that the proven capabilities of its offering for creating and managing virtual teams made it ideal for organizing and directing the collaboration of emergency response teams. Today, the company is targeting its Coach2100 Command & Control system to government organizations at all levels as well as Global 2000 companies. Coach2100 is a member of the Sun Partner Advantage Program. For more information, please visit Coach2100.com.

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