August 17, 2000
Gregory L. Rhode
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator of the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
U. S. Department of Commerce
14th & Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20230
Dear Gregory:
After viewing the two hour CSPAN video of your July 17th All Hazards Warning Round Table, I had to agree with one of our clients that CAN ® (Community Alert Network®, Inc.) was conspicuous by it’s absence. We originated the idea of using automated telephone calls to warn and alert the public in 1984. Sixteen years later we have extensive experience in warning and notification throughout 40 of our 50 states. Last year we responded to over 900 requests to make calls. The most recent major incident involving large scale calling was the Los Alamos fires where we made over 29,000 calls to advise people to evacuate. The officials in Los Alamos are complimenting Community Alert Network®, Inc. on being an integral part of preventing death and injury during these recent fires.
Most of our contracts since 1984 had been as a result of public private partnerships with industry in our various communities. I find it curious that small companies who have done little or no actual warning were on your panel when somehow we were overlooked. I am requesting an opportunity to meet with you and members of your staff to discuss some of our experiences and how we might help you meet your objectives.
CAN ® really is an all hazards warning service that cannot only call telephones but TDD machines, pagers and cell phones. One of our greatest strengths is that we are able to automate and interface with other technologies that allow various technologies to complement each other. A telephone call is one of the few ways you can be assured of alerting someone in the middle of the night. One woman in Los Alamos, on national television, complemented us because she was able to be awakened at 3 a.m. and evacuate within 15 minutes.
CAN ® is the only emergency notification service that has live activators 24/7 and redundant locations at opposite ends of the country.
I have asked Janet Minersagen of Community Alert Network®, Inc. to contact you on August 25th to try and arrange for a mutually convenient time to meet. If you have any questions between now and then, please do not hesitate to call (800) 992-2331.
Sincerely,
Ken Baechel
President
KB:jam
Enclosure
Cc: Dr. James Baker
Vice President Al Gore
Jeng Mao