(Alexandria, VA) - August 6, 2008 - A severe ice storm is predicted to hit New England in next 24 hours. A hurricane is heading for the Gulf Coast. Wildfires are threatening areas close to Yellowstone.

Impending emergencies like these put community and state agencies on alert for downed power lines, road closures and worse. But how do disaster management professionals know that all the authorities are getting the word? How can a lead agency make sure that critical messages are being received such as notifications, alerts, or resource requests?

The answer lies in OPENTST, a simple, non-intrusive software application being introduced by Previstar, provider of the Continual Preparedness System (CPS) - the emergency management industry's most comprehensive suite of incident lifecycle capabilities.

OPENTST enables disaster management professionals and software development companies to ensure that critical information sent using CAP 1.1 or EDXL DE is getting to the right people at the right time and place.

"The ability to share information is critical to effective crisis management and community resiliency," says Jim Fetters, President and COO of Previstar. "Because of our extensive work with emergency management teams across the public and private sectors, we understand how vital it is to provide supporting technology that advances standards-based data interoperability - and ensures that information is received by those who need it most."

By using Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL), messages - such as weather alerts, warnings, and resource requests - are disseminated simultaneously over many different types of systems through a central information exchange hub called the OPEN Network. OPENTST makes sure that these messages are exchanged effectively with the OPEN network.

OPENTST is currently used at the FEMA's National Incident Management System Support Center (NIMS SC) in Somerset, Kentucky for the NIMS Supporting Technologies Evaluation Program (NIMS STEP). NIMS STEP evaluates Data Management products that support emergency managers and responders in decision-making prior to and during an incident. Evaluators are using OPENTST to test the CAP 1.1 and EDXL DE capabilities of different technologies.

OPENTST's three primary functions are to:

• Verify that distributed information (including attachments) is accepted by the OPEN network, so that it can be processed and disseminated to the appropriate audience
• Confirm that systems are receiving information from the OPEN network
• Provide an interim tool for sharing basic information across the OPEN network for users that do not have a system currently in place

Product installation is complete in minutes, users can be fully trained in less than 1 hour, and OPENTST is priced at less than $3,000.

About Previstar

Previstar provides a suite of highly customizable software capabilities - primarily to the emergency preparedness and response communities, the armed services, and homeland security industry - for managing the incident lifecycle, including planning for, responding to, and recovering from all hazards incidents and events.

Web-based and easy-to-use, these integrated capabilities enhance unified planning, situational awareness, strategic decision support, and enhanced tactical execution for users located horizontally and vertically across organizational boundaries.

Previstar's suite of products originated from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratories and offers the only solution for equipping all organizational roles with a mix of customizable tools for enhancing operational effectiveness and organizational alignment, both day-to-day and during live incidents.

Previstar is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia and conducts research and development activities at its facility in Knoxville, Tennessee.

For more information about Previstar, please visit our website at www.previstar.com or contact: Joe Gordon, AVP Sales & Marketing Support, joe.gordon@previstar.com, 813-244-7774.