Triveni Digital Teams Up With Ohio Educational TV Stations and Digital Alert Systems to Strengthen Dissemination of Emergency Public Information
Ohio Digital EAS (OEAS) Provides PTV Stations With Reliable and Secure IP-Based Delivery System for Disseminating Emergency Information to the Public
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PRINCETON, N.J. - March 23, 2016
Triveni Digital today announced that it has teamed up with Ohio Educational Television Stations, Inc. and Digital Alert Systems, a division of Monroe Electronics, to create Ohio Digital EAS (OEAS), a reliable and secure IP-based delivery system for distribution of emergency information to the public and first responders. The OEAS system leverages datacast technology from Triveni Digital and a software-based emergency messaging delivery platform from Digital Alert Systems to provide public alerts and government communications utilizing all 12 of Ohio’s public television stations. By providing public broadcasters with a simple and cost-effective way of relaying existing EAS, FEMA IPAWS, and National Weather Service emergency messages to other broadcast stations and government sites — without touching the last-mile Internet — the OEAS system strengthens statewide warning abilities during emergencies. The Ohio project is being funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Hurricane Sandy proved that emergency messaging systems need more than the Internet to ensure that critical information makes it out to the public and the people who keep them safe. There must be secure, alternative pathways to provide the redundancy these important systems require,” said David Carwile, project manager at Ohio Educational Television Stations. “We’ve been working with Triveni Digital and Digital Alert Systems for nearly a decade to design a reliable and secure datacast-based information delivery system, and we are excited to introduce the OEAS architecture as an enhancement to Ohio’s public warning capabilities. As we complete testing and prepare for a full-scale rollout of the system later this spring, we also look forward to demonstrating the value it can bring to other projects on the federal, state, and local level.”
The OEAS project is a unified collaboration between Ohio’s public broadcasters, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, the Ohio broadcast community, and technology providers. To ensure secure transmission of public alerts and government communications, the OEAS system uses Digital Alert Systems’ DASEOC emergency operations center to aggregate all emergency messaging originating from the federal government, or Ohio state or county authorities, into a single data stream ready for ATSC broadcast. This stream is delivered to the 12 stations by the state’s Broadcast Educational Media Commission (BEMC) through the existing, secure state fiber system.
The final step involves inserting the stream into the station’s digital broadcast signal using Triveni Digital’s SkyScraper® datacast technology. SkyScraper is a highly scalable digital content distribution system that enables the stations to organize and target content to receivers; allocate bandwidth and insert content into broadcast streams; and extract content from broadcast streams and make it available to end users. The system’s DataFab and DataHub components at the state EMA headquarters in Columbus create an EAS message stream that is distributed to all the Ohio PTV stations by secure fiber and inserted in their over-the-air broadcast signals. With DataFab, messages can be targeted to individual receivers, groups of receivers, or the entire network.
At the user end, a digital TV data receiver and an integrated DASLC™ emergency content management server make the messaging content available to any existing brand of EAS equipment in its native format. Further, any DASDEC™ EAS unit can be internally enabled with this capability via the latest DASDEC version 3.0 software and system keys.
“We are committed to continually improve the ability of broadcasters and public safety agencies to communicate timely and reliable emergency information to the public,” said Edward Czarnecki, senior director, strategy and global government affairs at Digital Alert Systems. “Making our emergency alert solutions — including the DASDEC and DASEOC — central components of the new OEAS system will allow Ohio state broadcasters to relay mission-critical information flawlessly to more than 11.5 million people, including first responders, bringing emergency awareness to a whole new level.”
While the initial stage of the OEAS system provides a robust digital infrastructure for transmitting CAP alert messages, audio, and even video, the system sets the stage for additional emergency communications support across the state. The OEAS system features a content-agnostic architecture that can securely transport any type of digital content, including non-public messaging, such as data and live video. This will allow first responders and other emergency officials to utilize the system as well, using the information platforms of their choice. Any properly formatted digital signal can be delivered using the OEAS system, enabling broadcasters to continue to use the system when they transition to an ATSC 3.0 infrastructure.
“Beyond replicating and creating an alternative path for existing emergency alert systems, the Ohio Educational Television Stations are taking the first step toward addressing future needs, utilizing the existing public broadcasting system, and we are proud to be a part of this project,” said Ralph Bachofen, vice president of sales and marketing, Triveni Digital. “Datacasting emergency information with our SkyScraper system is a much more reliable solution compared with using last-mile Internet delivery, without some of the cybersecurity and other limitations inherent with terrestrial network distribution.”
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About Digital Alert Systems
Digital Alert Systems is a leading innovator of next-generation Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and Emergency Alert Systems (EAS). The company was formed in October 2003 to increase the effectiveness of emergency communications and merged with Monroe Electronics in October 2009. Based in Lyndonville, New York, Monroe Electronics provides R&D, manufacturing, sales, and customer service for the Digital Alert Systems brand. The company continues to retain its hard-earned reputation for quality, reliability, innovation, and service to valued customers around the world. More information is available at www.digitalalertsystems.com.
About Triveni Digital
Triveni Digital develops systems that enable television service providers and broadcasters to deploy enhanced programs and services to their viewers. Triveni Digital’s products for program guide and metadata management, data broadcasting, and video quality assurance are renowned for their ease of use and innovative features. Working with leading industry partners, Triveni Digital employs an open and standards-compliant approach to the digital television market. More information is available at www.TriveniDigital.com.
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