BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — Verizon Wireless and Blueforce Development Corporation recently announced they will team up to deliver advanced wireless solutions for public safety, emergency medical, national security and critical infrastructure protection in the government and commercial market segments through Verizon Wireless’ Business Solutions Alliance program. Verizon Wireless and Blueforce’s combined expertise focuses on delivering information mobility and advanced situational awareness solutions for human-to-human and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) interactions using Verizon Wireless’ world-class network and services.
Blueforce Tactical (BTAC), Blueforce’s mobile wireless solution, has been utilized in many quick-reaction scenarios including force/hostage rescue; medical instances on the battlefield; unattended chemical/biological (CBRNE) sensor normalization; critical infrastructure protection; border protection and disaster response. Sensor normalization and sensor sharing between users and machine systems has included chemical, explosive, motion, seismic, accelerometer/gyroscope, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and a variety of thermal and day camera systems. Life safety sensors have included heart rate, respiration, body temperature and pulse oximetry.
By using Verizon Wireless Windows-based smartphones, Windows tablets and Windows netbooks, Blueforce provides a software application and fusion platform for secure information sharing and enhanced presence among national security teams. Three critical areas for this initiative include:
• “Last Tactical Mile” Information Mobility: Combined mobile technology solutions for the rapid formation of teams allowing situational awareness and information sharing for last tactical mile operations. Primary elements are counter-terrorism; weapons of mass destruction (WMD) detection and mitigation; combat operations; emergency medical services; logistics; surveillance/collection; homeland defense; law enforcement and quick reaction force.
• Critical Infrastructure Protection: Comprehensive wireless technology solutions for the prevention, detection and mitigation of critical infrastructure disruptions due to man-made or natural events.
• Contingency Operations: Wireless capabilities for the rapid establishment of emergency operations, communications and supply chain/logistics coordination where needed after a highly disruptive man-made or natural event.
With Blueforce and Verizon Wireless, the end user has an integrated Machine-to-Machine solution with location-based services (both outside and inside of structures) and person-attached or unattended sensor data that simultaneously permits secure information exchange between wireless devices and networks.
“As M2M is more widely adopted across industries, it’s changing the way our enterprise and government customers leverage wireless solutions to enhance their businesses,” said Christopher Felix, vice president – federal government markets, Verizon Wireless. “The advances that Verizon Wireless has made with its 4G LTE technology along with the sophisticated Machine-to-Machine services we deliver help to change the way mission-critical businesses operate.”
“Whether it’s for our war fighters, homeland security personnel, law enforcement or first responders, information mobility is the critical component that enables them to quickly make better decisions,” said Michael Helfrich, founder and chief executive officer of Blueforce. “The ability to share actionable mission information and telemetry data between these teams provides for unprecedented mission efficiency and life safety. Our relationship with Verizon Wireless allows us to work together to deliver accelerated and complementary wireless data solutions for our prospective customers who work on the front lines of national security.”
Verizon Wireless offers an extensive portfolio of Machine-to-Machine services, including telematics for enterprise and government customers. For more information, customers can visit www.verizonwireless.com/m2m or contact their Business Sales Representative at 1-800-VZW-4BIZ.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest, most advanced 4G network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 104 million total wireless connections, including more than 88 million retail customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 85,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
About Blueforce
Blueforce Development Corporation is a software company, headquartered and incorporated in Massachusetts, which has built a patent-pending software platform that enables information sharing among people using mobile, handheld, wireless devices. The software provides shared awareness and extended presence of people, sensors, and services; and it facilitates secure information exchange between each of the endpoints. For more information about Blueforce Tactical, visit our website at http://www.blueforcedev.com.
