Integral Systems, Inc.'s (Nasdaq:ISYS) wholly-owned subsidiary, Newpoint Technologies, has been awarded a contract to provide its COMPASS Network Management Software (NMS) to Communications & Power Engineering (CommPower), Inc. for centralized monitoring of all assets of NOAA's Weather Radio Improvement Program (WRIP) system. The WRIP system is a nationwide (and beyond) dissemination system that consolidates and enhances NOAA's existing NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) and National Weather Wire Service (NWWS) capabilities.

Through WRIP, real-time weather information and warnings from local Weather and River Forecast Offices will be broadcast to the public via the NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) transmitter grid and Web Farm Internet services. In conjunction with Federal, State, and Local Emergency Managers and other public officials, WRIP will also broadcast via its satellite dissemination network, warning and post-event information for all types of hazards — including natural (such as earthquakes or avalanches), environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills), and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 telephone outages). The COMPASS software, to be integrated by CommPower, will allow NOAA Operations staff to monitor the transmission equipment at the 1,000+ transmitter sites and 122 Weather Forecast Offices from the WRIP Master Processing Center (MPC) in the Washington D.C. area. The COMPASS Software is also provided for the WRIP back-up MPC which will allow them to continue to operate the system in the event that the primary MPC is out of service for any reason. WRIP operators are notified by the COMPASS NMS when there are alarms or degradation within any broadcast/transmission path which may negatively affect the ability of WRIP to deliver its weather/warning broadcasts. Once notified, the operators are provided with the controls necessary to remotely respond to and diagnose these failures, and restore the transmission to a healthy state.