A new "Notifier"

ISSAQUAH, Wash.--CentrAlert, a privately held emergency communications company, announced April 23 the addition of a new product in its line-up of emergency evacuation systems, called "Notifier." The company has also recently hired vice president of sales and business management Rod Schrader, partly to focus on development of the dealer program. The company, unaffiliated with the Honeywell-owned fire alarm manufacturer Notifier, is billing the Notifier as a "secure messaging system able to reach thousands of people at one time." In emergency situations, Notifier takes control of computer screens and doesn't shut off until the user closes the screen message, after which an acknowledgement is sent back automatically to the system administrator. Messages to evacuate an area in case of natural disaster, terrorist threat, or nuclear disaster were all cited by Schrader as possible cases where the Notifier might be deployed. Schrader was brought on board to develop the distribution channel and expand CentrAlert's dealer program. "We are fortunate to have high quality resellers today," he said. "At the same time, we are underrepresented in certain geographic areas. My focus is to duplicate the existing dealer sales and support talent in areas where we are thin right now." Joe Collison is the account executive with McCord Communications in Anniston, Ala., a company that specializes in providing emergency alerting. McCord sells warning and notification products, including CentrAlert's, "mostly to governments and municipalities at this time, but we've had lots of inquiries in the last few weeks about providing outdoor alerts. Said Collison, "Notifier provides a means to enter into several other markets using a network. There are so many other industries that will be utilizing a network solution that this product will fit seamlessly into, and adds tremendous value in alerting people in a timely manner." To support its resellers, "CentrAlert is planning a training program this summer," according to Schrader, "although the venue decision is not yet final."