Nixle

History

In June 2008, Nixle partnered with the non-profit organization NLETS, a computer-based message switching system that links together all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.

Under the relationship, NLETS houses Nixle servers in their secure facilities and integrates Nixle technology into their network.

Nixle tested its technology in the winter of 2008 in Chula Vista, California. The test included publishers from the Chula Vista Police Department, Communications Department and other Chula Vista municipal agencies. After the 45-day test, the City of Chula Vista formally became the first municipality to adopt the Nixle platform.

In the spring of 2009, agencies in eight states tested the new communication platform. 20 municipalities in California gained secure access to the service for testing, including Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Napa, San Diego, Sonoma, National City, Escondido and Walnut Creek.

By the summer of 2010, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago, Virginia Beach, Minneapolis, and another 4600 other cities in all 50 states had adopted the program.

In July 2011, it was announced the company’s Chief Product Officer Eric Liu was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and the appointment of Scott Mason as Chairman.

Security

Nixle's servers are located at NLETS, providing security from would-be-hackers. This enables police departments nationwide to send alerts and advisories using their secure police terminals.

Nixle does not access Nlets' law enforcement information, they access their infrastructure. Nixle is designed on an emergency-grade platform hosted directly at the Nlets data center in Phoenix, Arizona, which features an on-site diesel generator for power failover, a Cisco firewall system and secured and regulated physical access to the facility. Nixle's partnership with NLETS allows Nixle to provide access to police and fire agencies across the United States on their private network in their vehicle or handhelds without internet access.

Geographic targeting

Nixle's technology platform creates a database of community information that builds upon itself. As municipal and community oriented groups push out their location-specific information directly to communities, the system also archives. This creates the foundation for databases of local news and information.

Information is disseminated to any point or address in a geographic area. This technology is also available to consumers.

Municipal wire

The municipal wire delivers information exclusively from public safety agencies and municipal governments. Advertising and other sets of information are not comingled within the Municipal wire so as not to diminish the integrity of public safety and government information.

Secure group text messaging

Nixle's Private Messaging application allows agencies and organizations to use the same Nixle platform for public messaging to communicate internally via private groups. Agencies and organizations can define custom groups and use mobile phone texts messages (SMS) to keep group members up-to-date with real-time messages on mobile phones. Nixle's Private Messaging application was rolled out at the multi-nation/multi-agency G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009.

Near time position targeting

In January 2011, Nixle released an iPhone application which periodically updates a user's location in its system. This potentially allows for greater hyperlocality of messages, particularly in relation to users entering their home or business address, although only a tiny fraction of mobile phones are iPhones that support background location updates.