SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA--(Marketwired - Jan. 18, 2016) - BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY)(TSX:BB), a global leader in secure mobile communications, today announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded a $20 million multiple-year delivery order against the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Solution for Enterprise-Wide Procurement Government-wide Acquisition Contract for the continuation and extension of the AtHoc networked crisis communications platform supporting the VA Notification System (VANS) and VA Personnel Accountability System (VA-PAS).
The award, made to AtHoc's reseller partner Four Points Technology demonstrates VA's commitment to leading the way in protecting and accounting for all of its employees, contractors and visitors during crises. This order extends protection to over 600,000 VA personnel as well as expanding scope and functionality of the system. The system includes alerting across telephones, text, pagers, fax, desktops, smartphones, as well as integration with other VA systems such as digital media systems. The VANS system enables alerting to, and response collection from, all targeted users for crisis management at the local or national level. The VANS system is fully integrated with the U.S. Navy SPAWAR Personnel Accountability and Assessment Systems (PAAS).
The innovative combined system, known as VA-PAS is actively used by VA for all types of crisis event management as well as day-to-day operations. The system is used by VA to streamline operational response activities and protect VA staff and contractors with a secure, state-of-the-art system designed to provide real time status of all users resulting in immediate reports available to VA leadership on the status of all employees.
The system captures all responses and automates the processes for real time corrective action for those in need, as well as monitoring status of those able to work during a crisis. VA has used the system actively for the past four years including during National Level Exercises, day-to-day operational VA events, and real world events such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and the Washington D.C. Navy Yard shooting in 2013. In each of these events, VA was able to communicate with employees and deliver up to the minute information about VA operational status.
"We deliver innovative and secure mission critical software and services to the world's most demanding organizations," said John Chen, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BlackBerry. "We are proud to continue to provide this critical life safety system to the VA, and look forward to continuing our work together to build an innovative and secure enterprise crisis communication network."
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world's most sensitive data across all end points - from cars to smartphones - making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com .
About AtHoc
AtHoc, a division of BlackBerry Limited, is the pioneer and recognized leader in networked crisis communication , protecting millions of people and thousands of organizations around the world. AtHoc provides a seamless and reliable exchange of critical information among organizations, their people and devices. A trusted partner to the world's most demanding customers, AtHoc is the leading provider to the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and safeguards numerous other government agencies and leading commercial enterprises. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, AtHoc operates around the globe. For more information about AtHoc, please visit www.athoc.com .
Trademarks, including but not limited to ATHOC, EMBLEM Design, ATHOC & Design and PURPLE GLOBE Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates, used under license, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
