New York, NY – Global communications technology company, Persistent Systems LLC recently employed its pioneering technology, Wave Relay®, in a collaborative effort with the New York Police Department (NYPD) Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and across several federal agencies to provide support to enable the Emergency Response Drills in NYC last week, shaped by the Paris attacks in November.

Broadcast on media outlets across the country and discussed on social media channels by Mayor Deblasio, this demo has received national spotlight, but few know the technology that powered this scenario and enabled participants to communicate. The NYC-­‐based company explains:

Persistent Systems LLC provided the network used for the active shooter demo by creating a backbone by which law enforcement and commanders in the scenario could communicate with one another in an inclement environment. In this case, an abandoned subway station – all via Persistent’s secure technology and radios -­‐without reliance on cell phone towers.

HOW WAS WAVE RELAY® USED IN THIS EMERGENCY RESPONSE SCENARIO?

• Wave Relay® is a Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET) system which provided an operational secure network for NYPD patrol officers and Emergency Services Unit (ESU) members as they responded to the active shooter scenario. The entire team, including commanders and evaluators at the street level, gained real-­‐time situational awareness of their surroundings, were able to see real-­‐time video feeds of team members and receive actionable intelligence to help evaluate the scenario and better execute the mission.
• Wave Relay® radios were placed in backpacks carried by NYPD patrol officers, the NYPD Emergency Services Unit as well as camera operators providing real-­‐time video feeds back to the operations center. Twelve radios were employed, with 6 live video feeds covering 2 sub-­‐terrain levels and streaming wireless communications to a command center on the street level of the Bowery Street subway station. The integration of Wave Relay® was simple, fast and took only five minutes.
• Small HD cameras were configured on shoulders of the officers to gain point-­‐of-­‐view (POV) perspectives of the action. Wave Relay® is uniquely designed to accept HD-­‐SDI, HDMI and IP-­‐controlled cameras. Six wireless HD video feeds were transmitted back to the operations center allowing the VIPs and evaluators to pick between videos and perspectives they wanted to see.
• Wave Relay® enabled a wireless network connection between each team member wearing the radio and the command center. These events highlight the fluid and unpredictable nature of emergency situations. Most often, there is not enough time to create a fixed-­‐communications infrastructure, and any existing network is either down due to power failures or is congested because of too many people using the network. Wave Relay® creates a separate network that can provide more than 100 Mbs of data bandwidth as well as connect back to existing networks used by city, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
• VIPs were able evaluate the scenarios and provide real-­‐time feedback using Wave Relay®. This is also critical in real-­‐world scenarios where the reality inside a building or in a subway is hard to understand as it unfolds. Decisions need to be made as quickly as possible and Wave Relay® allowed the NYC Mayor, NYPD Commissioner, FDNY Commissioner and DHS Secretary to know exactly what assets they had on hand to respond and the time it took to neutralize the active shooter.
• Cloud Relay enabled the video feeds captured in the subway station to be viewed at the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative (LMSI), a location beyond line of sight (BLOS) of the active shooter demonstration. Persistent Systems used Cloud Relay technology to connect the Wave Relay to existing communication infrastructure.
• A situational awareness application and sensors were integrated into the Wave Relay® network.
• Additionally, Wave Relay® can integrate with a variety of end-­‐user-­‐devices and supports many different technologies.

Persistent Systems LLC is grateful to provide its technology to customers in emergency response drills and in real-­‐life scenarios including wildfires, law enforcement and disaster relief across the country and globally. Please visit www.persistentsystems.com to learn more.

To schedule an interview with Persistent Systems, LLC or for media requests, please contact Pulse Creative PR Director: Yanina Erman at yanina@pulse-­creative.com or directly via 917.650.5519.

About Persistent Systems

Headquartered in New York City since 2007, Persistent Systems, LLC is a pioneering communications technology company that develops, manufactures and integrates Wave Relay®, a patented and secure Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET) system. The company’s industry leading R&D team has designed wireless networking protocols to support its cutting edge Wave Relay® systems and technologies. Wave Relay® is capable of running data, video, voice and other applications under the most difficult and unpredictable conditions. Persistent’s suite of products is field proven and utilized in Commercial, Military, Government, Industrial, Agriculture, Mining, Oil and Gas, Robotics, and Unmanned Systems markets.

Please visit www.persistentsystems.com to learn more.

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