AudioNow Steps Up In Emergency, Earns Recognition for Critical Role During Hurricane Sandy

Washington, D.C., November 5, 2012 — AudioNow, the nation’s leading radio-to-mobile platform, received accolades from Washington’s top all-news radio station, WTOP, as well as regional county emergency personnel,  for its role keeping audiences connected to radio stations during Hurricane Sandy.  AudioNow’s platform,  which links listeners  to live streams by dialing unique numbers assigned stations, equipped thousands of mid-Atlantic communities, many without power, with storm updates they otherwise would not have been able to access.

WTOP widely publicized their AudioNow number as part of their storm preparation campaign, and as a result, accrued over 900 listener hours during that same period.  Over 5,000 callers used the service through the days leading up to, and during, the storm.

“AudioNow has allowed us to super serve our audience in their greatest times of need,” said John Meyer, Director of Digital Media for WTOP. “These people might have been without a lifeline to important news and information without this service,” Meyer added.

Adding his endorsement to AudioNow’s capability was Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, who urged his 8,000 followers on Twitter to call WTOP’s AudioNow number, in case of emergency.  “If you lose power during the storm, you can keep up w/ important developments by listening to @WTOP over the phone: 202-380-9977.”

Hundreds of broadcasters from New York to Florida to Minnesota currently use the AudioNow service  to boost day-to-day traffic, but its added benefit was revealed during the Hurricane, when several stations promoted their AudioNow phone numbers around the clock, alerting their listeners that in the event of power outage, station content could still be accessed through voice stream on mobile devices.

“I just wanted to thank you for publicizing (and)  live streaming the WTOP phone number when our power was out,” said one WTOP listener who called to thank the station afterwards.  “That was the only way we had to check on the deteriorating weather conditions, and what was going on around us,” she said.

Arlington, Virginia’s Emergency Management station also reported the pivotal role of AudioNow, when their own station was jeopardized during the storm.

“When one of our systems, 1700 AM, did not function properly during the recent Hurricane Sandy, resulting in our inability to record emergency updates, we were able to send an audio file with those updates to AudioNow,”  said Debbie Powers, the station’s Deputy Coordinator.

“Arlington County has been VERY pleased with the addition of AudioNow to our tool box of ways to get information out to our residents, employees and visitors during an emergency,” said Powers.  It’s “ a way to help get life saving information to the public when traditional means of information sharing is not working.”

Though no one is immune from natural disasters, AudioNow has taken every action to prepare for the widespread outages they cause. AudioNow is present in multiple datacenters across the country, so in the event that any of its locations is in the path of destruction, the service can be transferred to unaffected regions.

By teaming together, AudioNow and its broadcasting partners help ensure that when the power goes off, the information continues to flow. No station, or audience, should be left in the dark.

For more information about AudioNow’s services, please contact George Cernat at: george.cernat@audionow.com.  

 

Washington, D.C., November 5, 2012 — AudioNow, the nation’s leading radio-to-mobile platform, received accolades from Washington’s top all-news radio station, WTOP, as well as regional county emergency personnel,  for its role keeping audiences connected to radio stations during Hurricane Sandy.  AudioNow’s platform,  which links listeners  to live streams by dialing unique numbers assigned stations, equipped thousands of mid-Atlantic communities, many without power, with storm updates they otherwise would not have been able to access.

WTOP widely publicized their AudioNow number as part of their storm preparation campaign, and as a result, accrued over 900 listener hours during that same period.  Over 5,000 callers used the service through the days leading up to, and during, the storm.

“AudioNow has allowed us to super serve our audience in their greatest times of need,” said John Meyer, Director of Digital Media for WTOP. “These people might have been without a lifeline to important news and information without this service,” Meyer added.

Adding his endorsement to AudioNow’s capability was Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, who urged his 8,000 followers on Twitter to call WTOP’s AudioNow number, in case of emergency.  “If you lose power during the storm, you can keep up w/ important developments by listening to @WTOP over the phone: 202-380-9977.”

Hundreds of broadcasters from New York to Florida to Minnesota currently use the AudioNow service  to boost day-to-day traffic, but its added benefit was revealed during the Hurricane, when several stations promoted their AudioNow phone numbers around the clock, alerting their listeners that in the event of power outage, station content could still be accessed through voice stream on mobile devices.

“I just wanted to thank you for publicizing (and)  live streaming the WTOP phone number when our power was out,” said one WTOP listener who called to thank the station afterwards.  “That was the only way we had to check on the deteriorating weather conditions, and what was going on around us,” she said.   

Arlington, Virginia’s Emergency Management station also reported the pivotal role of AudioNow, when their own station was jeopardized during the storm.

“When one of our systems, 1700 AM, did not function properly during the recent Hurricane Sandy, resulting in our inability to record emergency updates, we were able to send an audio file with those updates to AudioNow,”  said Debbie Powers, the station’s Deputy Coordinator.  

“Arlington County has been VERY pleased with the addition of AudioNow to our tool box of ways to get information out to our residents, employees and visitors during an emergency,” said Powers.  It’s “ a way to help get life saving information to the public when traditional means of information sharing is not working.”

Though no one is immune from natural disasters, AudioNow has taken every action to prepare for the widespread outages they cause. AudioNow is present in multiple datacenters across the country, so in the event that any of its locations is in the path of destruction, the service can be transferred to unaffected regions.

By teaming together, AudioNow and its broadcasting partners help ensure that when the power goes off, the information continues to flow. No station, or audience, should be left in the dark.

For more information about AudioNow’s services, please contact George Cernat at: george.cernat@audionow.com.  

 

Washington, D.C., November 5, 2012 — AudioNow, the nation’s leading radio-to-mobile platform, received accolades from Washington’s top all-news radio station, WTOP, as well as regional county emergency personnel,  for its role keeping audiences connected to radio stations during Hurricane Sandy.  AudioNow’s platform,  which links listeners  to live streams by dialing unique numbers assigned stations, equipped thousands of mid-Atlantic communities, many without power, with storm updates they otherwise would not have been able to access.

WTOP widely publicized their AudioNow number as part of their storm preparation campaign, and as a result, accrued over 900 listener hours during that same period.  Over 5,000 callers used the service through the days leading up to, and during, the storm.

“AudioNow has allowed us to super serve our audience in their greatest times of need,” said John Meyer, Director of Digital Media for WTOP. “These people might have been without a lifeline to important news and information without this service,” Meyer added.

Adding his endorsement to AudioNow’s capability was Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, who urged his 8,000 followers on Twitter to call WTOP’s AudioNow number, in case of emergency.  “If you lose power during the storm, you can keep up w/ important developments by listening to @WTOP over the phone: 202-380-9977.”

Hundreds of broadcasters from New York to Florida to Minnesota currently use the AudioNow service  to boost day-to-day traffic, but its added benefit was revealed during the Hurricane, when several stations promoted their AudioNow phone numbers around the clock, alerting their listeners that in the event of power outage, station content could still be accessed through voice stream on mobile devices.

“I just wanted to thank you for publicizing (and)  live streaming the WTOP phone number when our power was out,” said one WTOP listener who called to thank the station afterwards.  “That was the only way we had to check on the deteriorating weather conditions, and what was going on around us,” she said.   

Arlington, Virginia’s Emergency Management station also reported the pivotal role of AudioNow, when their own station was jeopardized during the storm.

“When one of our systems, 1700 AM, did not function properly during the recent Hurricane Sandy, resulting in our inability to record emergency updates, we were able to send an audio file with those updates to AudioNow,”  said Debbie Powers, the station’s Deputy Coordinator.  

“Arlington County has been VERY pleased with the addition of AudioNow to our tool box of ways to get information out to our residents, employees and visitors during an emergency,” said Powers.  It’s “ a way to help get life saving information to the public when traditional means of information sharing is not working.”

Though no one is immune from natural disasters, AudioNow has taken every action to prepare for the widespread outages they cause. AudioNow is present in multiple datacenters across the country, so in the event that any of its locations is in the path of destruction, the service can be transferred to unaffected regions.

By teaming together, AudioNow and its broadcasting partners help ensure that when the power goes off, the information continues to flow. No station, or audience, should be left in the dark.

For more information about AudioNow’s services, please contact George Cernat at: george.cernat@audionow.com.