Sprint steps up for public safety

How can Sprint products and services make the difference, possibly
between life and death, in a crisis situation? More than 500 first
responders attending the Minnesota Symposium on Terrorism & Emergency
Preparedness (M-STEP) was able to learn first hand.

The symposium, co-hosted by Minnesota's Hennepin Technical College and
Sprint Nextel in mid-November, featured two days of cutting
edge-educational sessions for public safety officials- police,
firefighters and others. Sprint contributed several speakers. Nancy
Salisbury, vice president- Public Sector welcomed attendees. Scot
Smith, product manager, and Bill Jones, manager- Emergency Response
Team, co-hosted a panel about interoperability, the idea that public
safety officials must have the ability to easily manage and directly
connect with one another through reliable and secure communications
regardless of agency, jurisdiction or department

Other sessions discussed commitment and leadership, winning the war on
terrorism, lessons learned from Katrina, preparing for pandemic flu and
more.

Alongside the educational panels, a public safety forum hosted more
than 40 vendors (Telenav, Nortel, ActSoft, Telex, RIM, etc.), allowing
first responders to learn about critical products and services at their
own pace. As the title sponsor, Sprint Nextel occupied the most
prominent position showcasing our public sector vertical solutions.

"It sure seemed like most of the 500 attendees stopped by our Sprint
Nextel showcase booth to gain important information about using our
technology for preparedness," said Scott Gmeinder, development
manager-Midwest Public Sector, who spent six months planning the event
with colleagues Marcia Habben and Robin Carlton, account
managers-Public Sector. "In addition to the elaborate showcase booth,
we also had a retail booth, collateral area, and a large video screen
showing our emergency preparedness video, which made for an extremely
positive experience for our valued attendees."

Sprint Products and services showcased included:



Emergency Preparedness (ERT) - Emergency Response Team- professionals
who support public safety and healthcare organization in disaster
response, field training exercises, pre-planned national events
Data Security & High Speed Wireless Broadband - wirelessly transmit
critical safety information to first responders at broadband speeds
Technology for Education - Whether it's a one-building school, a large
school district or a university campus, Sprint Nextel can keep every
level of the organization connected to meet their unique wireless needs

Critical Solutions in Healthcare - Mobile applications improve safety
and physician response time and delivery for real - time medicine and
rapid response team automation.
Interoperability (Dispatch Operations) - Our network becomes a
seamless, natural extension / overlay to our customer's dispatch
operations.

Contacts speaking with Gmeinder after the event indicated that the
symposium made a positive impression on the overall attendee base,
leaving them with a clearer sense of Sprint's strong commitment to the
public safety community.

"Many new leads and follow ups came out of this event due to our
dedication to detail to ensure we had a focus on all aspects of what
Sprint Nextel can do for our customers, which coincided with the theme
of the event," says Gmeinder.