TechRadium's 'IRIS' Alert System Used in California Fire, Texas School Case

SUGAR LAND, Texas, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- TechRadium, Inc., the Texas-based operator of the patented notification system, IRIS -- Immediate Response Information System -- has seen its alert system used in the fires that raged through Southern California and also in a Texas school district that locked down its campuses.

In Carlsbad, California, near San Diego, students and faculty at a leading military school were safely evacuated from the fire's effects after receiving instant notice by IRIS. The Army and Navy Academy was ordered closed by Brig. Gen. Steven Bliss, and the Academy used IRIS to send the message to more than 1,500 students, parents, faculty and staff. The IRIS system also allowed officials to determine simultaneously just who received or did not receive the notification, allowing all recipients to be accounted for.

"In closing the school, Gen. Bliss cited a number of health and safety concerns stemming from the wildfires," the Academy said in a statement. Although the Academy was in no danger from the fires themselves, air quality had become poor and California's utilities had warned of possible power outages. Cadets returned to the campus after a three-day shutdown.

"This is yet another example of how IRIS is successfully used by educational institutions," said Ryan Rodkey, chief executive officer of TechRadium, headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, near Houston.

Soon after the California fires, the Splendora Independent School District in Texas used the IRIS system to notify students and parents of a lockdown of all school campuses when police investigated the circumstances of a crime victim on the parking lot of a junior high school. "Our students and staff are safe and the lockdown is purely precautionary," the IRIS message from school administrators said.

TechRadium's IRIS is widely used across the U.S. in schools, businesses, government offices and other locations. The system can send alert messages to thousands of recipients in about 30 seconds "with the click of a single mouse," Mr. Rodkey said.