New emergency alerting server sends critical alerts over both SMS and WiFi, reaching larger audiences reliably

A pioneer of critical email-to-SMS alerting on mobile phones, Ottawa-based Amika Mobile Corp. is the first company to introduce emergency broadcasts over WiFi and SMS. When an emergency strikes, whether it is a campus shooting, an Amber Alert, an approaching hurricane, toxic chemical spill or a massive power blackout, it is essential that the danger be validated and affected parties alerted as quickly as possible.

Amika Mobile’s emergency broadcasting provides the efficient delivery of messages incorporating both text and images to a large number of recipients on laptops, SMS/MMS-capable mobile devices, and email mailboxes.

Amika Mobile's new Emergency Alerting Server uses Meru Networks' single-channel wireless LAN solution as a platform for sending reliable emergency messages over WiFi links across campuses, cities, or geographically distributed areas. As the first system able to use either text messaging (SMS) or WiFi to send such alerts, the server can reach greater numbers of people more reliably in less time than SMS-only systems. The key benefit to sending emergency alerts over WiFi access points is that databases of mobile phone numbers are not needed, alerts may be sent geographically to given areas, with pictures or maps/blueprints of buildings attached.

The email-to-SMS alerts are independent of device, carrier, or email systems. Key content is automatically analyzed and reduced to a summary with messages filtered according to user preferences. Summaries fit optimally in 1 or 2 SMS packets on any mobile phone. Amika Mobile’s email-SMS is 2-way and allows users to reply over SMS on the mobile phone.

The benefits of Amika Mobile’s email-to-SMS services include:

• Low cost per user
• Email-to-SMS easy to set up
• Email “Push” to any mobile phone
• Seamless enterprise integration
• Content optimized for mobile screen
• Linux Software Server runs on any hardware

Amika Mobile sells its products through distributors, system integrators, service provider partners and platform vendors initially focusing on North America, India, Europe and Australia with future plans for expansion into Asia.

Why Ottawa

Sue Abu-Hakima, President & CEO of Amika has been a prominent Ottawa scientist and entrepreneur since she obtained her PhD from Carleton University — where she specialized in artificial intelligence. After starting her career at Ottawa’s Nortel Networks in 1982, Abu-Hakima launched her first start-up, AmikaNow! in 1998.

AmikaNow! was a spin-off from the National Research Council, Canada’s premier science research and technology research organization, AmikaNow! was sold in 2004 to Entrust, an Ottawa company that develops digital security solutions.

Abu-Hakima has helped create over 130 high tech jobs in Ottawa that, according to the Ottawa Centre of Research and Innovation, have created an additional 390 jobs in the region. In addition, she is a mentor to countless Ottawa high school, university and graduate students. In 2008 she was a finalist for the prestigious Business Woman of the Year award, an honour given out each year since 1983 by the Ottawa Business Journal.

Prior to starting Amika Mobile in 2007, Abu-Hakima reached into Ottawa’s deep pool of top-notch executive IT talent to form Amika Mobile’s Board of Directors. Abu-Hakima recruited two of Ottawa’s best: Louis Payant, founder of Ottawa companies Vienna Systems Corp. and Norlite Technology Inc., and Debbie Weinstein, a founding partner at LaBarge Weinstein, a business law firm in Ottawa.

Business advantage

Wireless access to information is no longer an extravagance; it’s a necessity — especially in emergency situations. Amika Mobile’s Amika Mobility Server (AMS), provides a text message-based alert broadcasting system for all types of communities, including schools and cities. When emergency events occur (such as school closures and floods) constituents are alerted in real-time via SMS on any mobile phone. The AMS is a fully scalable server that can be customized to meet the needs of any size organization or enterprise.

Future growth plans

Worldwide sales of mobile phones will reach 1.28 billion units in 2008 — an 11% increase from last year according to Gartner Inc. (NYSE:IT), the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company.

Contact information

Amika Mobile Corp.
613-599-4445
www.amikamobile.com

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