Innovation

For close to 100 years, our lives have depended on a ringing bell to alert us of imminent danger. It’s about time that system got a high-tech overhaul.

Oakmont-based Metis Secure Solutions has developed a wall-mounted, hardware and software integrated Emergency Notification System (ENS) for college and university campuses that can do what few other new solutions can—unify communication and send it beyond the reach of other frequencies to dispatch life-saving information where it needs to go.

Two independent wireless data paths, a mesh network and a FM digital sub-carrier, allow Metis to operate when other systems and cell reception could be crippled, says Dave Hockendoner, chief technology officier. “Our system targets a given building or floor and sends a specific message to everyone in every unit on every floor.”

Imagine that during 9-11 when hundreds of people on different floors didn’t know where to turn.

A spinout of Sima Products of Oakmont, Metis was formed last November with the help of the Technology Collaborative and Innovation Works. Its first system was tested at Carnegie’s Mellon Institute, a labyrinth of research labs and dead zones. A successful drill convinced the university to purchase the system, which will be installed campus-wide this summer.

“We gained a lot of knowledge from our collaboration and research with CMU, working in a concrete building with dense construction that can hinder the flow of information,” says Tim Means, marketing director.

The units have LED screens and emit four reponses: light, sound, voice and text messages, offering two-way communication. Security officials and administrators can log into the system from almost anywhere.

While the product was designed for universities and campus environments, Metis hopes to market it in vertical markets such as research centers, high rise office buildings and senior research centers says Mark Kurtzrock, CEO.

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Writer: Debra Diamond Smit
Source: Mark Kurtzrock, Tim Means, Dave Hochendoner, Metis Secure Solutions

Image courtesy Metis Secure Solutions