EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – May 19, 2008 – NC4, Inc., a leader in situational awareness, incident monitoring, crisis management, and secure collaboration, today announced several new features within the E Team emergency management solution that will assist government agencies in preparing for the upcoming hurricane season.  The new features include External Situational Awareness (ESA) Incident Monitor (EIM), a tool that tracks incidents in real time; a Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) Interface, a standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) for application integration with E Team; and E Team Live, which gathers incident information from Web sites, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA), and automatically imports the data into the E Team application.  Each new feature supplies critical capabilities that can assist agencies in hurricane season preparedness and response. “While no one can predict when, where, or how many hurricanes will impact a community throughout a hurricane season, the City of Jacksonville understands that even one hurricane can be devastating,” said Lorin Mock, Chief, Emergency Preparedness Division, City of Jacksonville, Fla.  “We use E Team as an integral part of our government preparedness plan to make sure we are ready.  In addition, while E Team is vital during hurricane season, it is also used each time our Emergency Operations Center is activated throughout the year – no matter what the situation.”     Tracking Incidents for Situational Awareness – EIM NC4’s EIM is a virtual watch command center that provides situational awareness of all-hazards incidents worldwide that may affect government or business operations.  Integrated into NC4’s E Team emergency management system, EIM iseal for agencies that want to keep abreast of events at the local and even global level.  A “lite” version of NC4’s ESA Global Map, EIM provides a real-time view of all active incidents worldwide.  E Team users can click on any incident to access its exact location as well as detailed incident information.  The EIM function, in tandem with E Team, allows even the smallest agency to track potential threats to ensure citizens’ safety and protect property.   Communicating Easily in Times of Need – WSDL Interface NC4’s WSDL Interface within E Team allows application integration via common XML standard for data exchange.  The WSDL Interface facilitates bi-directional interfaces with third-party applications that compliment E Team, including voice notification systems and geographic information systems, as well as healthcare and custom-developed applications.  At the forefront of interoperability standards in the industry, NC4 is a founding member of the Emergency Interoperability Consortium and has consistently defined and adopted XML standards for data exchange in its products.  The next generation of XML standards, WSDL provides a bridge that allows E Team users to realize seamless interoperability in unpredictable environments. Open Source Information Gathering – E Team Live The E Team Live automation engine scans existing Web sites and dynamically enters information in the E Team application.  It provides a direct feed on current weather conditions from NOAA’s Web site – a critical capability during hurricane season.  In addition, users can tailor E Team Live to gather information from any accessible Web site, such as local school districts, electric companies, and transportation organizations.  This information, such as school closings, power outages, and road closures, is directly imported into E Team and updated as the Web sites provide new information.  While E Team Live is offered as free open source software, users can also purchase it as a turnkey solution that includes configuration and support services from NC4. “NC4 consistently strives to offer innovative solutions that enable our customers to prepare for incidents and manage uncertainty,” said Jim Montagnino, president, NC4.  “During hurricane season, many state and local agencies rely on situational awareness and emergency management tools for response and recovery initiatives.  By listening to the needs and requirements of our customers, we are able to provide them with proven tools and new features that better equip them to protect citizens year-round.” About NC4 NC4, through its incident monitoring centers, improves the Situational Awareness to both business and government clients by providing real-time, global, 24x7 proactive incident information and alerts.  NC4 issues timely, relevant, and personalized alerts covering incidents near an organization’s key locations that may impact life and safety, physical assets, and continuity of operations.  This includes incidents such as transportation, severe weather, hazmat, law enforcement, fire, terrorism, and other incidents that have the potential to cause disruption. Additionally, NC4 provides Situational Response through its E Team offering, which provides sophisticated planning and operational tools to enable emergency managers to effectively process the massive amounts of information generated during a major event, crisis, or disaster.  E Team’s Windows-based, browser-accessible software has been used to manage events ranging from 9/11, multiple Olympics, and political conventions to hurricanes and other natural disasters. NC4 also provides Secure Communications and Collaboration through its ESP offerings.  ESP is an application service provider that provides government agencies and corporations with a common platform for secure communication and collaboration.  ESP provides solutions for diverse organizations to share Controlled Unified Information (CUI) information through highly secure, compartmented, web-accessible portals.    For more information, see www.nc4.us.