FORT HOOD, Texas and ATLANTA, April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army's Fort Hood, Texas, is turning to wireless data to significantly reduce incident response times and improve safety for its police force through a solution powered by Cingular Wireless. Cingular announced the deployment today at FOSE 2005 in Washington, D.C.

Fort Hood, which is the nation's largest military installation, is rolling out a computer aided dispatch solution enabled for Cingular's nationwide wireless data network that allows the base's military and civilian police officers to access incident information on wireless rugged laptops mounted in their patrol vehicles. With the Cingular-powered solution, officers now can respond to incidents within minutes.

The Cingular solution also gives officers fast access to state and federal databases during traffic stops and other situations right from their vehicles. This allows them to determine whether a vehicle is stolen, the driver is wanted on an outstanding warrant, and the like in near real-time. Previously, dispatchers at headquarters checked criminal databases and then passed along the information to officers via radio transmissions, which were often delayed and garbled.

Cingular Wireless' GSM/GPRS network is available in 13,000 cities and towns and along nearly 40,000 miles of interstate highways across the U.S.

The GPRS implementation gives officers access to the information they need to respond quickly to emergencies, and to rapidly assess potentially life-threatening situations. The wirelessly enabled solution has allowed Fort Hood Police to cut response times by better than half, and officers now have direct access to law enforcement databases. This translates into a safer environment for those who live and work on the post, and for those who protect them.

Fort Hood Police previously used a radio system to communicate with officers patrolling the sprawling, 320-square-mile post, but it did not adequately address the department's growing needs. There was a lot of cross- traffic on the radio waves and officers often had to wait for a channel to clear. Once a link was established, officers and communications operators often had to repeat themselves. And the public had access to the unsecured airwaves so they were able to intercept information.

"Our radio system was so antiquated," noted Capt. Gary White of the Fort Hood Police patrol branch. "We had to share the system with everyone on the installation. And much of the information we communicated over the radio is sensitive. So we chose the computer aided dispatch system to cut down on radio traffic and to protect the confidential nature of our business."

Cingular Wireless counts more than 1,200 federal, state and local government agencies as customers, and serves 95 of the Fortune 100 companies and over 80 percent of the Fortune 500. Cingular and its alliance partners offer a wide range of capabilities and solutions for federal government customers including:

* Wireless e-mail access through Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino, and VPN access to legacy applications featuring enhanced security that is compliant with federal government security standards; * Enhanced security offerings supporting FIPS 140.2, AES, 3DES, and Type 1 encryption standards for e-mail and various 3rd party wireless data applications; * Wireless data access to confidential government databases; * Wireless data collection for field personnel conducting audits, asset and building inspections, agricultural and environmental inspections, inventory management, remote inquiries, and database updates; * Automatic vehicle locator solutions for federal fleet management, automotive asset tracking and motor pool administration; * Wireless data access when traveling internationally in dozens of countries overseas using a compatible device. About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 50 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc and BellSouth Corporation , has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation and the largest mobile- to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/ . Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.com/newsroom .

CONTACT: John Kampfe of Cingular Wireless, +1-908-696-4536, or wireless,
+1-908-432-3473, both of Cingular Wireless

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