Sprint, has been selected to provide critical communicationssupport for Pope Benedict XVI’s historic visit
to New York City. Sprint’s Emergency Response
Team (ERT) is providing - upon request of the
Archdiocese of New York (ADNY) - 600 Sprint
phones, all of which include Nextel Direct Connect, Sprint’s
premier push-to-talk service, which allows staff to communicate
instantly during all activities related to the Papal visit.
”Robust communications are integral to the
success of the Pope’s visit, and we decided to
work with Sprint because of their industry-leading Nextel Direct Connect
product and the instant connectivity that it will provide to our staff
during all activities over the next few days,”
said Joseph Zwilling, director of communications at the Archdiocese of
New York. “The Sprint team has been very
forthcoming with their technology and personnel, and we highly commend
their participation.”
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Sprint’s ERT will deploy 600 phones with
Nextel Direct Connect. -
40 phones will be used by the Elite Fleet, including the Pope’s
Caravan, all Cardinals and the Vatican VIP personnel. -
Key capabilities within the Nextel Direct Connect portfolio that the
team will utilize include Group Connect,
a unique capability that allows users to communicate with up to 20
other Nextel Direct Connect users at one time; Next Mail,
which allows Nextel Direct Connect users to send a voice message
to any email address and Blast Email via PTN Messaging. -
The Pope’s caravan will be tracked through
Actsoft’s Comet Tracker GPS solution loaded
on Sprint phones; transmitting data over a secured network in near
real-time for optimum security and accuracy.
“It was Nextel Direct Connect that originally
brought us in contact with the ADNY. After several conversations and
meetings, the ADNY operations team decided to utilize additional
services including our mobile broadband cards and GPS application to
ensure constant, reliable communications at all times,”
says Chris Hackett, vice president of business and government solutions
at Sprint. “Sprint is delighted to support
the ADNY by providing them with a level of service that no one can match.”
Due to the functionality and reliability of Actsoft’s
Comet Tracker product, Sprint chose this seamless solution to ensure the
security of the Pope. Tom Mitchell, CEO and Founder of Actsoft Inc.,
states, “Actsoft is honored to contribute to
the security and safety of such a prominent and prestigious world leader
during his visit to New York City. Our GPS Solution has been selected
again for its industry leadership position.”
Media attending the multiple events in New York City will also benefit
from the power of Sprint Mobile Broadband, by having access to Sprint
broadband cards available at all media centers established throughout
the city and being able to submit their reports online at ultra-fast
speeds. Reaching more than 246 million people (inclusive of data
roaming), 15,556 cities and 1,486 airports coast-to-coast; Sprint Mobile
Broadband allows customers to quickly download large files as well as to
access high-speed data applications using a variety of solutions such as
handheld devices and connection cards.
Sprint ERT provides rapidly deployable, scalable and reliable
interoperable communications for emergencies, drills, and field
exercises. These solutions from Sprint ERT provide critical
communication and connectivity virtually anywhere, at anytime to
government agencies, the military, and enterprise clients. To learn more
about the Sprint ERT and interoperable communications from Sprint,
contact the ERT via email at EmergencyResponseTeam@sprint.com,
or call the 24x7 ERT Support Hotline at 1-888-639-0020. GETS Users can
reach the ERT at 254-295-2220