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Firms put weather alerts at subscribers' fingertips
(Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 13--Though not in time for Alberto's stormy arrival, a new weather-alert service announced Monday promises to provide quick, targeted updates and warnings to businesses, government and schools that subscribe.
The service, a joint offering from technology firms WeatherBug and Send Word Now, will launch this summer with its first clients, the Broward County School System and Wal-Mart. It is expected to be offered to individuals in the next year or two.
Customers of the Smart Notification Weather Service will receive data from a network of 8,000 weather-tracking stations on their cell phones, pagers and e-mail gadgets such as the BlackBerry. They'll receive information on wind speeds, rainfall, flooding, lightning and other threats.
Though similar programs exist, officials said this one has an advantage: the ability to zero in on precise geographic areas. Rather than automatically generate and deliver updates for a ZIP-code-based region that could encompass 30 miles, the new service can narrow the area to 3.2 miles.
"That's an area the size of a local neighborhood," said Jim Anderson, director of business development for WeatherBug, a Web-based provider of weather-information services.
"Information from our network of tracking stations is updated every two seconds and sent to the Web," Anderson said. "It will be more precise and reliable for end users."
Wal-Mart and the Broward school system plan to roll out the service in August, with more businesses, public-safety organizations and retailers expected later in the year.
"Right now, it's a business-to-business service, but we fully intend to bring it to individuals in the next few years," said Michael Sher, chief strategy officer of New York-based Send Word Now, a provider of Web-based notification services.
The cost for individuals hasn't been determined, but it would likely be less than $10 a month, he said.
The Smart Notification Weather Service will use tracking information from cell towers and Global Positioning System chips in wireless devices to find mobile users, Sher said.
For a retail giant such as Wal-Mart, the service will enable its emergency-operations center to quickly send automated warnings to 3,800 stores.
"Weather can be a great disruption for business, whether it's snow, tornadoes, lightning or hurricanes," said Jason Jackson, Wal-Mart's emergency management director.
"We need to be able to notify store managers of an impending situation so they can get people to safety, pull cart-pushers off the lot and let customers know what's going on."
Earlier this year, when dozens of tornadoes spawned across the Midwest, Wal-Mart wasn't able to contact all its facilities as quickly as it desired. The new automated system will be able to push out information in a more timely manner, he said.
Getting weather alerts to teachers with students on field trips or coaches at athletic events will be another benefit of the new wireless service, said Jerry Graziose, safety director for the Broward County School Board.
Chris Cobbs can be reached at ccobbs@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5447.
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