NWN Launches First Responder Bundle To Equip Pandemic Response

The solution provider has tailored the technology package to meet the needs of public safety operators responding to the spread of the coronavirus.

Solution provider NWN has launched a new bundled technology package for first responders focused on enhancing their communications and mobility amid the coronavirus crisis.

At Waltham, Mass.-based NWN, about half of the existing business is based on serving state and local governments as well as education. "Anything we can do on our part with this bundle to get to market and deploy fast to help people, that's what we're focused on," said NWN CEO Jim Sullivan in an interview with CRN.

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"Coming from a company that knows the ins and outs of state and local agency contracts, we're making it an 'easy button' for them to get access to [these solutions] and deploy them," Sullivan said. "That's important in this environment."

The offering for first responders follows the debut of a remote-work bundle that NWN, No. 76 on the 2019 CRN Solution Provider 500, launched in mid-March to address the sudden surge in demand for work-from-home technology.

For the first responder bundle, NWN—a major partner of Cisco and HP Inc.—is focused on providing mobile devices, secure wireless networking and collaboration software.

The bundle includes components such as mobile and desktop devices; secure network access; meetings for up to 200 participants along with content sharing and recording; Cisco Webex Teams messaging; an analytics and troubleshooting dashboard; and multifactor authentication software.

In addition, NWN can provide configuration services to ready the software for “mission-critical” environments, the company said.

Many of the municipalities that NWN is supporting today with its five core offerings see the need to shift to remote deployments, similar to on the commercial side, said Andrew Gilman, head of marketing and alliances at NWN.

They are "looking to expand and go faster around more remote work and transformation to protect their communities during this time," Gilman said.