Visual Communication Proves Crucial for Disaster Response in Pandemic and Cyber-Attack Simulations: TANDBERG Illustrates Versatility and Reliability of Visual Communications During Strong Angel III Disaster-Response Demonstration

Business Wire, Sept 12, 2006

SAN DIEGO -- A pandemic virus, coupled with a wave of cyber-attacks, quickly spreads across the globe, isolating U.S. cities from federal assistance, and knocking out power, cell phone service and Internet access. That was the recent scenario at Strong Angel III, a major collaborative disaster-response exercise between civil and military organizations. During the Aug. 20-26 event hosted by San Diego State University, TANDBERG(R) (OSLO:TAA.OL), a global leader in visual communication, demonstrated that reliable visual communication is essential for conducting successful disaster-response and recovery.

"The ability to talk face-to-face with an incident commander or other team member during a crisis is a very valuable addition to anyone's communication arsenal," said Allen Johnston, Director of Business Development at Thunderworks Mobile Engineering, a Strong Angel III participant that handles satellite projects in the public-safety arena. "(The TANDBERG solution) not only performed perfectly, but did so with very little bandwidth required from our satellite system."

More than 40 disaster-related tasks were attempted during the seven-day demonstration. As part of the response and recovery scenario, TANDBERG's videoconferencing systems were used to instantly link key participants--including government agencies, private companies and universities. Utilizing satellite and Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO--a wireless broadband standard), TANDBERG mobile video solutions were able to keep participants fully connected when traditional communication technologies were out of service.

"During Strong Angel III, my partner and I were provided the opportunity to mobilize a TANDBERG Centric 150 MXP unit which performed beautifully over a mobile EVDO connection at 64kbps," said Michael Hennig, San Diego State University Visualization Lab. "The TANDBERG (system) proved to be one of the most reliable pieces of hardware we came in contact with."

The seamless interoperability of TANDBERG's standards-based visual communication systems with other technologies was recognized as a critical requirement for disaster response, given the need for effective communication and decision-making under adverse conditions. Strong Angel III included the evaluation of visual communication for numerous disaster response and recovery scenarios, including:

--Pandemic Assessment: Enable multiple teams to collaborate face-to-face on the scope of the disaster without the risk of contamination from in-person contact. Real-time assessment of patients from medical and disease control experts via videoconferencing.

--Response Coordination: Provide a means for public information officials to deliver status reports about the pandemic's effect on resources such as food and water to remote field offices for more effective, coordinated response. Stream reports via the TANDBERG Content Server to additional offices or the public.

--Community Awareness: Effectively communicate the government's response to the pandemic to the community in ways that inspire confidence. Share essential information with non-English speaking communities.

--Worldwide Collaboration: Allow experts and officials from around the world to meet face-to-face, allowing for real-time collaboration to minimize the spread of disease and coordinate global response.

"Strong Angel further demonstrated that face-to-face visual interaction is a key component of successful disaster-response programs," said Scott Feinberg, Public Safety Market Development Manager, TANDBERG. "Visual communication provides emotional support, definitive information and accelerated decision-making, critical elements for saving lives and reducing damage during disasters."

About Strong Angel III

Strong Angel III is the third in a series of demonstrations that have taken place since 2000. The first two Strong Angel demonstrations were held in 2000 and 2004 in Hawaii associated with the joint Naval exercises called RIMPAC. The primary goals of Strong Angel III are to field-test and demonstrate effective means of delivering life-saving humanitarian relief in the wake of natural and man-made disasters, to foster close collaboration and communications between aid agencies, governments and military in providing disaster relief, to provide local communities with solutions that will help them cope with disasters more immediately and effectively, and to enable military forces to better prepare for and execute humanitarian relief efforts. Strong Angel III will issue a lessons-learned document on its website as soon as possible after conclusion of the demonstration. For more information on Strong Angel III and a listing of participating public- and private-sector organizations, please visit www.strongangel3.net.

About TANDBERG

TANDBERG is a leading global provider of visual communication products and services with dual headquarters in New York and Norway. TANDBERG designs, develops and markets systems and software for video, voice and data. The company provides sales, support and value-added services in more than 90 countries worldwide. TANDBERG is publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker TAA.OL. Please visit www.tandberg.net for more information.