PageOne secures exclusive agreement with the Cabinet Office to supply MTPAS-enabled 2-way pagers to emergency responders

PageOne to provide the only 2-way pagers for privileged access scheme

London, 12 November, 2009 - PageOne, the UK’s leading provider of mobile messaging solutions to the public and enterprise sectors, today announced that its 2-way pagers will be exclusively MTPAS (Mobile Telecommunication Privileged Access Scheme) enabled for all Category 1 and 2 Responders. The Cabinet Office-run scheme ensures that all Category 1 or 2 Responders in an organisation that use PageOne 2-way paging will be MTPAS-enabled after a special SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is inserted into the pager.

MTPAS is invoked in the event of a major incident, allowing privileged access to the mobile network for Category 1 and 2 Responders. To prevent cell overload, the number of MTPAS enabled mobile phones within each Category 1 and 2 organisation is limited, meaning that not all Category 1 and 2 Responders will receive an MTPAS enabled SIM for their phone. As PageOne’s 2-Way pager uses the PageOne wide area paging network for out-going messages and status and reply messages use very little data (either SMS or GPRS), PageOne can provide all Category 1 and 2 Responders in an organisation with an MTPAS-enabled SIM.

“We have welcomed the PageOne 2-way pager onto the Scheme as it gives the first responder community a new and innovative way to enhance resilient communications for effective emergency response,” said Tom Swarbrigg, Privilege Access Scheme Manager, the Cabinet Office. “The fact that the PageOne 2-way pager uses so little GSM air-time means that we have been able to extend the use of privileged access to all in both Category 1 and 2 Responder Organisations, so in times of incident the widest possible benefits can be realised by users under the MTPAS Scheme”.

PageOne’s 2-way pager provides reliable 2-way communication with the speed, assurance and reach of paging with the added benefits of auto acknowledgement, location of pager and response messages returned over either GPRS or GSM (Global System for Mobile communications). The two-way reply feature provides a guarantee that the message has been read. The pager includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) chip that supplies the control centre with the last known location of the pager together with the  a reply message, allowing for better intelligence regarding the location of Category 1 and 2 Responders and more efficient deployment of resources during a major incident. Furthermore, PageOne’s paging system allows messages to be broadcast simultaneously, maximising the number of Category 1 and 2 Responders that can receive a message as quickly as possible.

“We are absolutely delighted that the Cabinet Office has recognised the crucial role that paging technology can play during a major incident,” said Chris Jones, CEO, PageOne. “Paging is a quick, secure, reliable and resilient communication method that ideally fits time-sensitive operations such as responding to a major incident, where every second counts. The additional functionality that PageOne has introduced to the UK with 2-way paging such as the ability to respond to a message and GPS-tracking has reinforced paging as the communication method to use in a crisis.”

For further information on PageOne’s 2-way pager and for associated imagery please visit http://www.pageone.co.uk/2-way-pagers-are-mtpas-enabled-3774.htm