Missing girl found

When a nine year old local Sandy girl was reported missing in this Salt Lake City suburb in the heart of the Wasatch Mountains, the Sandy Police Department (SPD) was able to use the department’s new state-of-the-art wireless mesh video surveillance network to track her path. The system allowed the department to survey a vast portion of the city which narrowed the search area and decreased the time it took to locate the girl and return her to her family. The surveillance system, which was deployed by Salt Lake City’s AlphaCorp Security using Firetide wireless infrastructure mesh equipment, was initially installed by the SPD to monitor the town’s main State Street corridor, parks and business districts. Because the wireless network has been a resounding success for the community’s public safety goals, the network is building upon the interest from other municipal groups as they realize its value. (Sandy Police Chief Stephen Chapman.)

Online and phone-based citation payments

The Municipal Court of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, one of the largest traffic courts in Georgia, is joining over 80 other jurisdictions throughout Georgia that are taking advantage of nCourt for online and phone-based citation payments. Individuals who are facing a traffic violation citation visit www.athensgatix.com or www.ncourt.com and select Athens-Clarke County from the menu. They can also pay by phone at 1-800-701-8560. The easy-to-follow system enables payments to be made and confirmed within minutes, ensuring completion and avoiding further potential penalties. The nCourt service also provides a free, bilingual customer help center that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (Athens-Clarke County Municipal Court Judge Kay Giese.)

$1.8 million spend by DEA

WidePoint Corporation, a provider of advanced information technology, identity assurance and protection, and mobile telecom expense management (TEM) services, said today that its subsidiary, iSYS, LLC has been awarded its first contract with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The five-year agreement is initially worth approximately $1.8 million in support of the DEA’s Office of Information Systems.

$12.7 million task order

NCI, a provider of information technology, engineering, and professional services and solutions to U.S. Federal Government agencies, has received a task order award valued at approximately $12.7 million. Awarded through the Total Engineering Integrated Services (TEIS) contract, NCI will provide engineering and implementation services for a Multi-Level Video Information System (MVIS) Project for the U.S. Central Command’s (USCENTCOM) new Headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. USCENTCOM, a theater-level Unified Combatant Command unit, is the military authority for the Middle East and Southwest Asia with an area of responsibility that includes 20 nations.

Under the task order, NCI and its team members, Pershing Technologies and Advanced C⁴ Solutions (AC4S) will engineer, furnish, install, test and provide training for the MVIS in multiple conference rooms, command briefing rooms and operations centers in the facility.

Online ordering for pizza

i Brands Corporation has signed a beta test online service agreement with Zucca Bar & Pizzeria, www.ZuccaPizza.com, a casual Italian dining restaurant chain specializing in New York style pizza and family-recipe pasta/sauces. The beta test will last 90-days followed by a roll-out into Zucca’s chain. Zucca’s management intends to growth their chain, firstly on a regional then national basis.

According to pizzamarketplace.com, “Online ordering is a fast-growing part of the pizza business. For smaller, independent pizza operations, it is important to develop an online ordering system in order to stay competitive.” QSR Magazine recently reported that “of the Quick Service experts surveyed, 51% predict online ordering to be 'The Next Big Thing'.” According to i Brands, less than 5% of restaurants in the United States offer online ordering.

Document management for law firm

IKON Office Solutions, a Ricoh company, has renewed its document management solution agreement with Duane Morris LLP, a full service law firm with more than 700 attorneys practicing in 24 offices in the United States and internationally. Evolving from a partnership of prominent lawyers in Philadelphia a century ago, Duane Morris now has offices in many major markets and continues to expand across the country and overseas through non-merger growth.

As part of the new agreement, IKON’s on-site service team will manage the document production in Duane Morris’ Philadelphia headquarters, as well as provide office support, including support staff, document management, mail/distribution services, and fax services, in five additional firm offices. Ricoh equipment, including multi-function devices, have been placed in the six managed offices as well as the 15 remaining domestic Duane Morris locations. (Barry Silver, Director of Office Services, Duane Morris.)

Bank risks investment in software

As many financial institutions are looking for methods to enhance lending compliance and credit risk management, Bank of Idaho has deployed Cypress Software Systems’ BizMark software to develop an automated application and underwriting system for its small business loans. Beyond the efficiencies achieved with the loan software, Bank of Idaho also gained additional control over its credit risk management and compliance efforts. Bank of Idaho has seven branches across Idaho, holding more than $200 million in assets with more than 100 employees. (Warren Roberts, vice president and assistant loan administrator at Bank of Idaho.)

$35 million payroll contract

STG, Inc. has been awarded the Department of State’s Bureau of Resource Management (RM) Worldwide Agency-wide Locally Engaged Staff (WALES) contract. Under this $35 million, 5-year contract, STG will design, develop and implement a payroll solution for more than 90,000 American & Foreign Service National staff and Foreign Service Annuitants.

New look wrangler.com

wrangler.com has a new look and feel, an interactive home page and a new ecommerce store. The Zobrist team developed the WebSphere 6.0 Commerce / Content site architecture to deliver an integrated brand experience on wrangler.com. (Brendan Walsh, Wrangler.com Project Manager.) www.zobristinc.com and www.wrangler.com.

BPA has value of up to $28 million

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has awarded NetStar-1, Inc. a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for management consulting services for its Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) program. The new five-year BPA has a value of up to $28 million. www.netstar-1.com.

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms wins $1.7m deal

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, a unit of GE Enterprise Solutions, has received an initial order valued at $1.7 million from Northrop Grumman Information Technology TASC for systems featuring GE Fanuc’s CL11 single board computers and ICS-1555A high speed AD (analog-to-digital) PMCs. A total of 216 systems is expected to be ordered over a five-year period, making the long term value an anticipated $7.5 million. The GE Fanuc systems will be integrated by Northrop Grumman into signals intelligence solutions to support intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance (ISR) information in tactical environments.

Giants' season-ticket-holder incentive

Radiant Systems has announced a new agreement with the San Francisco Giants to be a key provider of the new loaded-ticket system, a season-ticket-holder incentive deemed so successful by team officials that they have taken steps to open the program to all fans at AT&T Park.

$8.1 million award by DoD

EDS has signed an $8.1 million, 12-month add-on contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Military Health System to make technical enhancements to several Defense Health Information Management Systems (DHIMS). The work will improve the quality and delivery of healthcare for recovering U.S. service members under the DoD Wounded Warrior care initiative. The Military Health System is the largest health maintenance organization in the world, composed of a vast team of healthcare providers, medical educators and medical researchers serving at health facilities and in the field worldwide. More than 60,000 trained users operate DHIMS applications to capture, manage and share data across the DoD.

Egg delivery routes: NFC shells out

Major egg producer and processor, National Food Corporation, has revolutionized the way it plans and coordinates its delivery routes to customers throughout North and Midwest America and the Pacific Rim. Using routing and scheduling software from Paragon Software Systems, Inc, (http://us.paragonrouting.com) one person is able to plan up to 50 complex routes per day to complete over 11,000 deliveries per week. This high efficiency also enables the company to provide third party logistics services for several clients, including some very recognisable names in retail.

National Food Corporation uses a combination of Paragon Multi Depot and Integrated Fleets software. This has proven to be the ideal solution to automate planning and optimize transportation from its distribution centers and DCs. The system replaces a time consuming, manual process that was completely dependent on local DC managers. (Kevin Bookey, Transportation Manager, National Food Corporation.)

Monitoring for 4600 stores' cold chain visibility

C&S Wholesale Grocers, the second largest food wholesaler in the U.S., has selected Par’s RT-200 monitoring solution for cold chain visibility and control of their products. Par’s RT-200 system will allow C&S constant real-time visibility and remote control of their refrigerated trailers while also affording for better yields in asset utilization and fuel savings. C&S Wholesale Grocers’ integration will optimize the protection of perishable products while in transit.

C&S Wholesale Grocers is the 12th largest privately held company in the United States. The company distributes food to supermarkets, retail stores and military bases across the country. Currently, C&S serves about 4600 stores from more than 50 locations in 11 states. C&S provides more than 95,000 food and nonfood items including produce, meat, dairy products, delicatessen products, fresh/frozen bakery items, health and beauty aids, candy and tobacco.

In Utah in-vehicle credit card payments

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) has announced the fleet-wide deployment of the onBoard Mobile Gateway from In Motion Technology. The solution provides wireless communications capabilities to enable in-vehicle credit card payments, Internet access and other services for passengers utilizing UTA’s 530-vehicle bus service. In Motion’s onBoard Mobility Manager will give UTA’s headquarters staff a virtual dashboard of information about networks, devices and vehicles from the field, and a high level of information and control over its wireless communications.(Clair Fiet, Chief Technology Officer for the Utah Transit Authority.)

One-to-Watch: Onboard Retail Solutions.

St Petersburg to share crime data

St. Petersburg, Floirda has become the 500^th law enforcement agency to share crime data with the public through CrimeReports.com. St. Petersburg joins other agencies that have chosen to inform and engage their citizens through timely, block-level crime data. The city’s 250,000 residents can now more fully benefit from the St. Petersburg Police Department’s continued commitment to cutting–edge technology and community outreach efforts and local neighborhood watch efforts have gained a valuable tool that will enable them to work more closely with officers to keep their communities safe. (Chief Charles Harmon.)

Voice and data for Bath showroom

Renaissance Tile & Bath has implemented MegaPath’s Duet service to deliver voice and data capabilities for the company’s showroom location. Renaissance Tile & Bath, a design resource providing luxury tile, stone and bath products for the home, leverages Duet to increase productivity, connect to headquarters and decrease costs. (David Amos, Systems Administrator, Renaissance Tile & Bath.)

EMS for 900 retail locations

Michaels Stores has deployed Site-Command Energy Management System (EMS) at more than 900 retail locations. To date, Michaels has seen energy usage drop by more than 25 percent at stores equipped with Site-Command. The solution helps chain retailers reduce energy and maintenance costs through equipment monitoring and control combined with web-based business intelligence. Site-Command lowers energy consumption and maintenance costs in retail and restaurant facilities through an on-site EMS unit which monitors and controls Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, interior and exterior lighting, store signage, refrigerators, trash compactors, solar panels and wind power. In addition, enterprise-wide issue reporting and asset intelligence are provided through a hosted data center. Besides lowering costs, Site-Command also improves customer comfort by ensuring corporate standards for temperature and lighting are consistently maintained across the chain.

Besides lowering energy costs, Site Controls has helped significantly reduce Michaels’ carbon emissions. By lowering electricity usage by 137 million kilowatt hours annually, Michaels has reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 192 million lbs. This is the equivalent of removing 17,400 cars from the road or powering over 12,900 households for a year. (Rob McClay, VP of Store Development and Construction for Michaels.)

Voice services for New York

New York State Office of the Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology (CIO/OFT) has selected PAETEC to deliver core voice services to the State agencies on the State’s network. The agreement will represent over six million minutes per month in voice services, distributed between local and long distance service.

CIO/OFT provides statewide technology direction and centralized technology policies and services to New York State government entities. The agency’s voice and data telecommunication systems support over 90,000 users and 10,000 teleconferences per year. The local and long distance (toll) services provided from PAETEC are expected to save the state approximately $370,000 annually for the next five years, representing a 20 percent cost savings. (Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, New York State Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office for Technology.)