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The 911 emergency service in Oregon now provides instant notifications online to school administrators, hospitals, and others who need timely emergency alerts, thanks to a coalition of local governments and technology vendors using Web services and software.

The Regional Alliances for Infrastructure and Network Security has launched its RAINS-Net technology platform, which sends live emergency information to selected users over the Internet and by cell phone. The creators of RAINS-Net are billing it as an extension of 911 service, in which the existing computer-aided dispatch system is connected to the Internet and sends alerts to officials who need to know about emergency situations in their neighborhoods.

RAIN-Net's Route

RAINS-Net, linked in this case to the Portland, Oregon, 911 center, automatically sends alerts without dispatchers doing more than they would to notify the appropriate response agency, such as a fire department or police.

"The operator doesn't do anything except what they're doing today," says Charles Jennings, a RAINS board member and chair and chief executive officer of sponsoring vendor Swan Island Networks. "It adds no new human resources element to the dispatch center."

Launched 16 months ago as a response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the RAINS-Net project was funded with only $60,000 in grants from Oregon, plus private company sponsorships. Founders expect the RAINS coalition will boost economic development in Oregon and surrounding states by developing technologies that can be used elsewhere, Jennings says. Sixty companies and six universities are involved in the RAINS coalition, and four other states either have or are considering starting a RAINS group, he adds.

"We thought there would be the opportunity to develop new homeland security systems," Jennings says. "We decided to take an active, 'let's build it approach' as opposed to just creating white papers and policy."

The group acted on advice from Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, who said the project was more likely to get support in Washington, D.C., with a working product, not a blueprint. In designing domestic security products, the coalition decided to tackle information sharing between emergency responders and the public.

RAINS-Net creators believe theirs is the first project to capture real-time data in a 911 center's local information system and redistribute it broadly to those responsible for public safety in a community, Jennings adds.

Basic Operation

Here's how RAINS-Net works: When a 911 call comes into a dispatch center, the information an operator types into the dispatch center computers can be routed to a cell phone message or a pop-up dialog box on a PC. In the case of an emergency event like a hazardous waste spill, people on the RAINS-Net network would be notified immediately. The dialog box might direct them to additional multimedia information, such as a video on how to respond to a hazardous waste spill.

The RAINS-Net system, which goes live Thursday, already has about 1000 files with additional information on emergency situations.

In some cases, such as a crime in progress, RAINS-Net waits until police arrive before notifying people on the network. Police would first assess the situation before raising concerns, Jennings says.

The system uses the nine-digit zip code to route messages to recipients, so a school won't get an emergency message about a fire across town. The system also can send city-wide emergency messages to appropriate recipients.

RAINS-Net initially integrates the technologies of RAINS sponsor companies, including FORTiX, Tripwire, Centerlogic, and Jennings' Swan Island Networks, by using XML and Web services. Other companies are working with RAINS to integrate their technologies into RAINS-Net as new capabilities are added.

RAINS-Net Specs

The RAINS-Net platform is a client-server application, built from commercial, off-the-shelf technologies, that runs on top of existing networks, according to RAINS.

The coalition touts the package as a highly secure way to send sensitive information to community members selected by RAINS. Information from RAINS-Net can't be copied, forwarded, edited, or printed by recipients, unless authorized by the sender.

RAINS-Net is originally aimed at notifying school administrators, building managers, and hospitals of emergency situations in their neighborhoods. The RAINS coalition plans to expand the number of recipients to include government officials, utility companies, and other groups in a community's critical infrastructure, Jennings says.

The ultimate goal of RAINS is to link high-tech innovators with emergency responders, research universities, public officials, and others concerned with domestic security, Jennings adds.

"A lot of times, high tech and everybody else are in two different camps," he says. "It's my contention that particularly in the information-sharing arena, the only way you get progress and traction is by having the tech people and the policy people and responders in the same room working together."

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