Sonus Networks announced a suite of IP-based voice calling solutions to serve National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) needs as outlined by the National Communications System (NCS), whose Executive Agent is the Department of Homeland Security. 
The National Communications System aims to ensure a high probability of call completion for government officials during periods of network congestion, including crisis or emergency, attack, recovery and reconstitution.
Sonus Networks, working in collaboration with the NCS and its integration contractor, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), has developed a robust set of next generation network features that meet the requirements outlined by the NCS.
Most recently, the NCS enlisted the support of Sonus to develop two new features to round out its NS/EP services product functionality: Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Resource Priority Header (RPH) and Office Wide Call Queuing (OWCQ), which together identify and allocate resource priority to calls from authorized federal, state, local, and critical industry personnel who have NS/EP missions.
Sonus Networks said it is the first to develop this set of next generation NS/EP features. The company recently hosted a demonstration in their Richardson, Texas, laboratories for NCS, CSC, other NCS contractors, and a group of leading U.S. carriers. The Richardson lab is Sonus' largest customer integration and testing facility.
To ensure that NS/EP communications are being addressed across various network types, the NCS has implemented the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and Wireless Priority Service (WPS). Sonus' NS/EP product portfolio is designed to meet the needs of each of these two services.
http://www.sonusnet.comhttp://www.ncs.gov
- President John F. Kennedy established the National Communications System (NCS) by a Presidential Memorandum on August 21, 1963 in response to inter-government communications problems experience during the Cuban missile crisis. The NCS mandate included linking, improving, and extending the communications facilities and components of various Federal agencies, focusing on interconnectivity and survivability.
