Fortress Technologies to Provide Secure Wireless Communications for South Carolina National Guard Mobile Response Teams

Company Enables Secure Voice, Video, and Data Transmissions during Emergency Response Situations

TAMPA, Fla. – June 2008 – Fortress Technologies, a leading provider of secure wireless solutions, today announced that it is integrating its Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) certified secure wireless solutions into the South Carolina National Guard’s Mobile Response Teams (MRTs) – providing communications for the National Guard Task Forces responsible for responding to any emergency. Working with the 43rd Civil Support Team (43rd CST), these MRTs will deploy Fortress Secure Wireless Bridges as part of their wireless solution. MRTs will enable the National Guard to better prepare, act, and respond during times of emergency.

“It is well documented that the current communications infrastructure is not always available during major disasters – both natural and man-made,” said COL Debra Rose, J-6 for South Carolina. “The goal of this program is to be able to provide voice, video, and data interactions between first responders at an incident site and coordinating locations such as state emergency operations centers. We are in theory developing a National Guard “Hot Spot” for first responders and others.”

As part of the program, Fortress Secure Wireless Bridges will be installed at armories throughout South Carolina, delivering highly reliable wireless communications with required FIPS security. Leveraging one of the most advanced and reliable mobile communications units available –– the Incident Commander’s Command, Control, and Communication System (IC4U™) from Information Processing Systems of San Carlos, California –– MRTs will be able to connect to the Fortress Secure Wireless Bridges, enabling voice, video, and data capabilities during emergency response or disaster recovery situations. The project will allow all responding units to use wireless communications – while in the vicinity of a wireless equipped armory – in a completely secure environment.

Having previously deployed the National Guard’s prototype Joint Incident Site Communications Capability (JISCC) in support of hurricane relief efforts in Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, David McNamee, the former Director of Information Management (DOIM) for South Carolina and the first Officer in Charge (OIC) of the JISCC, highly recommends the Fortress Solution. “I have used Fortress products for several years and have been very pleased with their performance and reliability,” said McNamee. McNamee will lead the MRT implementation.

“Government agencies are required to use validated secure wireless solutions for any implementation,” said Dana Kuntz, Vice President, Federal Sales, Fortress. “Fortress delivers robust wireless communications with uncompromising security to ensure support of our customer’s missions. We supplied certified secure wireless solutions for the JISCC systems and now support the South Carolina’s MRTs. We have extensive past performance in supporting National Guard and other military wireless implementations and are pleased to have been selected as the secure wireless provider on this project.”