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Firetide Mesh Networks and North American Midway Bring Wireless Mesh to Fairgrounds
LOS GATOS, Calif., Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Firetide, Inc., a leading developer of wireless multi-service mesh technology, announced an agreement with North American Midway Entertainment, L.L.C. for the successful deployment and operation of its mesh networks for wireless transaction processing at fairgrounds throughout North America.
The mesh networks were purchased by North American Midway Entertainment, the largest mobile amusement company in North America, which provides midway attractions including rides, food, and games to approximately 19 million attendees at over 130 events annually, including 10 of the top 50 fairs in North America, in 19 states and four Canadian provinces. The company uses the Firetide mesh to provide a portable wireless network for electronic ticketing and point-of-sale terminals on the midway and at fair admission gates.
"We operate mobile amusement parks that pick up and move every couple of weeks. Our electronic ticketing system currently operates in 14 cities across the U.S. and Canada during its nine-month touring season," said Robert Perkins, Executive Vice President of North American Midway. "Everybody on staff is busy during this time, and the network that travels with the crew must be very easy to set up and tear down and reliable enough to handle high volumes of electronic transactions quickly and securely."
"Our mesh network solution is well suited for commercial applications. It combines the convenience and flexibility of wireless with the scalability and the multi-service capabilities that enterprise networks need," said Firetide CEO Bo Larsson. "The midway application demonstrates many of the key benefits of the Firetide mesh solution including very high performance and reliability, iron clad security, and extreme flexibility. It's perfect for companies wanting to add an enterprise-class, multi-service network quickly and cost effectively anywhere."
In addition to being able to handle a demanding transaction load resulting from many thousands of people passing through the gates each day, the Firetide solution was chosen for its resiliency and low cost. "We liked the fact that the Firetide mesh can heal itself and will instantly reroute data if one of the wireless links goes down or is temporarily blocked," said Dan Riekes, chief operating officer of Affidia Systems Inc., the California-based systems integrator that installed the Firetide system for North American Midway Entertainment. "The system also adapts to any fairground layout and size so setup is very fast and cost-effective."
The showcase for the Firetide system was the recent Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto where two indoor/outdoor wireless e-ticketing systems were set up for admission gate ticket sales and midway ticket sales. Both systems used Firetide mesh nodes that automatically linked to each other wirelessly to form mesh networks that blanketed the exhibition area. North American Midway used the mesh networks as a wireless infrastructure for the e- ticketing systems which together consisted of over 77 point-of-sale terminals, 45 debit/credit card terminals, 55 gate PDA scanners, 58 ride scanners, 50 game scanners, as well as various management, operational and back office systems.
About Firetide Inc.
Firetide is the leading provider of wireless multi-service mesh networks that enable concurrent video, voice, and data for municipal, public safety and enterprise applications. Firetide HotPort mesh networks and HotPoint access points provide a secure, high performance wireless mesh infrastructure and access solution for video surveillance, Internet access HotZones, public safety networks and temporary networks wherever rapid deployment, mobility, and easy of installation are required. The company's patented AutoMesh flow- based routing protocol optimizes network performance and capacity for high bandwidth and latency sensitive applications. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Firetide is a privately held company with worldwide product distribution. For more information, visit http://www.firetide.com/.
About North American Midway Entertainment
North American Midway Entertainment, L.L.C. is a leading provider of Midway entertainment to fairs and carnivals. Formed through the combination of Farrow Amusement Company, Conklin Holdings, Inc., Thebault-Blomsness, Inc. and Mid-America Shows Delaware, Inc. North American Midway's mission is to bring the next generation of Midway entertainment to its customers through the implementation of the highest operational standards in the industry.
About Affidia Systems, Inc. Affidia is an IT solutions provider and certified Firetide reseller delivering IP communications, wireless networks, network security, network and OS infrastructure support, and managed solutions for commercial enterprises and educational institutions. The company is headquartered in Encino, California.
(C) 2006 Firetide, Inc. Firetide, HotPoint, HotPort and Multi-Service Mesh Networks are trademarks of Firetide, Inc.
Firetide, Inc.
CONTACT: Mike Downes of Firetide, Inc., +1-808-387-2181 ormdownes@firetide.com; Dominic Ybarra of Edelman, +1-650-762-2960 ordominic.ybarra@edelman.com, for Firetide; Larry Solters, +1-213-639-6160, orLisa Pardini, +1-213-639-6162 or lpardini@solters.com, both of ScoopMarketing, for North American Midway Entertainment, L.L.C.; or ChristinaPrickitt of Affidia Systems, +1-818-461-1115 or cprickitt@affidia.com
Web site: http://www.firetide.com/
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