RESTON, Va. (Feb. 1, 2005) – WeatherWave, Inc. has launched a national cell phone notification service for anyone who is outdoors and needs to be aware of approaching severe weather, and for others who need accurate weather information to plan outdoor work or recreation activities.

The WeatherWave Land Service provides severe weather warnings via computer-generated voice calls to cell phones. It also enables toll-free dial-in access to current conditions, forecasts and alarms for the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska and the Caribbean – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – all delivered as voice responses.

Within seconds of the release of National Weather Service (NWS) alerts, WeatherWave subscribers receive outbound cell phone calls notifying them of alerts that match their profiles. Additionally, subscribers can make inbound calls using an 800-number to access weather information, whenever and wherever they want. If they are traveling, they can call to see what weather is approaching their next destination, or they can use the “follow me” feature to have the alerting service call them during each leg of their trip – if alerts are issued for those destinations.

“By providing specific, relevant weather information with pinpoint precision, this service greatly broadens weather awareness, improves safety and reduces casualties caused by people being stuck away from shelter when severe weather hits,” said WeatherWave President Sande Smith, who founded the company in 2004 with Mark Ross, with whom he previously has worked in the business of electronic, satellite and TV news delivery.

“The Weatherwave Land Service is ideal for campers, hikers, mountain climbers, fresh water fisherman, hunters, golfers, outdoor sports teams and outdoor work crews,” Smith added. “Additionally, it is suitable for boaters on inland lakes and rivers, as well as anyone who wants the fastest possible notification of tornados.”

The Founders

Smith, who has over 30 years experience in sales, marketing and executive management of technology companies, previously was CEO of Dynatech NewStar, the leading U.S. provider of real-time news information systems to TV stations.

Ross, who has over 19 years of information technology and business manage­ment experi­ence working in the financial, telecommunica­tions and television broadcast industries, was vice president of technology at Dynatech NewStar. Additionally, he worked in technology development for a major weather information provider in the Midwest.

Over one year ago and before almost anyone else, Ross recognized the emerging opportunity to use text-to-speech (TTS) and interactive voice response (IVR) technology for the delivery of weather information in voice form to user PCs. Together, Smith and Ross then applied this technology to the delivery of weather information by voice to cell phones.

The Need

Prior to the WeatherWave service, those outdoors have had to rely on regular radio or NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts for severe weather information. Transporting these devices is burdensome, especially for those with limited carrying space. Or, those outdoors have had to call in for local weather information, without having the comfort of receiving automatic notification of imminent weather dangers.

According to Smith, “WeatherWave’s voice cell phone notifications are perhaps the fastest warnings delivered in the industry, beating even those in the NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts.”

The WeatherWave Solution

WeatherWave’s outbound component provides severe weather alert calls for cities profiled by the subscriber. Up to 50 NWS alert categories can be delivered. The major categories include national attack warning, civil emergency message, flash flood warning, severe thunderstorm warning, winter weather warning and tornado warning. Alerts are delivered as computer-generated voice calls, which are initiated within 10 seconds of alert issuance by the NWS. If unanswered, the calls go into the subscriber’s voicemail.

The inbound component provides 800-number access to current conditions, forecasts, advisories and alerts for all U.S. cities. As with the outbound alerts, accessed information is delivered as computer-generated voice responses. Subscribers can access all city weather simply by entering zip codes.

Pricing

Subscriptions to WeatherWave are available in one-year terms – both in individual and family plans. The list price for an individual subscription is $39, paid in advance. Subscribers enrolling in the system prior to Apr. 1 will receive three additional months or a total of 15 months of service for this price. Subscribers who enroll after Apr. 1 will receive the regular 12 months of service. In addition to this fee, subscribers pay a set-up fee of $6.95, plus 14 cents per outbound notification call and 18 cents per minute per inbound call. Subscribers establish their accounts and set up deposits to cover these costs.

WeatherWave also offers discount programs for affinity groups of users. For example, an outdoor club, team or association could encourage multiple members to subscribe and save significantly on the annual subscription fee. Each member of an accepted affinity group participates in the discount plan and uses his/her own credit card for payment. Individual plan subscribers and family plan subscribers can participate in affinity groups.

In additional to individual subscriptions, WeatherWave offers businesses the ability to obtain multiple subscriptions, all paid for on one account and all managed by a company administrator. This is ideal for outdoor work crews, such as roofing and construction companies, and event services companies that set up outdoor venues and tents. Pricing is discounted automatically based on the number of subscriptions purchased.

Background

In January, 2005, WeatherWave launched a Marine Service for boaters in all U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes that provides severe weather warnings via computer-generated voice calls to cell phones. The Marine Service also provides toll-free access to current conditions, forecasts and alarms for any marine zone, marine buoy or U.S. city – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Over 170 million people in the United States carry cell phones and five major cell phone networks cover most of the country,” Smith said. “Cell phones are the ideal device for delivering severe weather notifications and for enabling current weather retrieval to a broader audience.”

Headquartered in Reston, Va., WeatherWave has datacenter co-location facilities in Ashburn, Va. and Atlanta. For WeatherWave subscriptions or more information, visit www.weatherwave.com