Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security Increases Disaster Preparedness Efforts by Leveraging ArcMail to Manage Critica

July 15, 2008

SHREVEPORT, La. , July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- ArcMail Technology, a leader in email archiving and management solutions, today announced the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) has implemented the ArcMail Defender to prevent future email archiving challenges, prepare for the increase of emails during disasters and make it easier to respond to legal discovery orders and requests for information during emergencies.

"Searching through hundreds of thousands of emails on our old system was a nightmare as we had to either search through every individual email box, back-up tape and disc or hand over all of our emails to the attorneys and let them do it, neither of which is a desirable option," said Peter Main , GOHSEP's IT director. "With Defender we can search by dates, subject, and other parameters and it only takes minutes instead of hours, saving us valuable time and resources, and simplifies the process of responding to discovery orders. Defender also provides secure and reliable built-in storage space, which we will leverage in the event of a disaster."

As the state of Louisiana's primary command center, GOHSEP can host up to 500 personnel from other agencies in the event of an emergency. Part of the agency's emergency-preparedness is to be capable immediately of handling a massive increase of emails resulting from a natural or man-made disaster. In such an event, the agency's email capacity could rapidly increase from its typical 5,000 messages per day to more than 15,000; many of which would include large, time-sensitive attachments such as photographs, maps, diagrams and reports -- all critical to the agency's emergency response efforts.

Prior to deploying ArcMail, GOHSEP emails were stored in individual user mailboxes and on network backup tapes and PST files stored on CDs and DVDs. GOHSEP became aware of the inefficiency of its email archiving system when, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the agency's email was subpoenaed in litigation related to the disaster. By implementing ArcMail Defender, GOHSEP will be able to immediately increase its email archiving capabilities, as well as access and search email archives quickly, enabling staff to quickly respond to victims' needs.

"We are thrilled to work with GOHSEP to quickly search for and access mission critical emails during and after emergencies," said Dean Richardson , vice president of sales for ArcMail Technology. "ArcMail Defender's intuitive web-based interface and lightning fast searches have already, and will continue to make it easier for GOHSEP to search email archives and respond more quickly to discovery orders and requests for important information. Rather than worrying about email archiving, the agency can now focus its valuable resources on disaster preparedness and relief efforts."

For full details on GOHSEP's implementation of ArcMail, please read the case study available at: http://www.arcmail.com/casestudies/index.php

About the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) was created by the Civil Act of 1950 as the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (LOHSEP). The name was changed in March of 2006 when the agency came under the Governor's Office.

Since 1990, the GOHSEP has managed over 25 Federal Disaster Declarations and has coordinated several hundred State Disaster Declarations authorized by the Governor. The agency's mission has evolved to include the spectrum of natural and man-made disasters and as of 2003, the duties and responsibilities of supporting Louisiana's Homeland Security needs.

In 2007 GOHSEP was honored to receive National accreditation through the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). For more information, go to: http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov

About ArcMail Technology

Founded in 2005, ArcMail Technology is a leading provider of simple, secure, and cost-effective email archiving and management solutions for government, educational, public and private sector organizations of all sizes. ArcMail Defender was recently granted the Network Products Guide 2008 Product Innovation Award for its 12 Terabyte U3120 Defender and has since released a new Defender with 16 Terabytes of internal storage -- the world's largest self contained email archiving appliance. The Defender is an extremely cost effective turn-key email archiving unit that is easy to buy, easy to install, easy to manage and easy to use. ArcMail is headquartered in Shreveport, La. , and has development groups in Washington and Arizona . For more information, visit http://www.arcmail.com.

Company Contact: Dean Richardson ArcMail Technology 318-841-1153 [email protected]

SOURCE ArcMail Technology

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