New Customer for ArcMail: GOHSEP

ArcMail Technology, in email archiving and management solutions, announced the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) has implemented the ArcMail Defender to prevent future email archiving challenges, prepare for the increase of emails during disasters and make it easier to respond to legal discovery orders and requests for information during emergencies.

Governor’s Office of Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness

"Searching through hundreds of thousands of emails on our old system was a nightmare as we had to either search through every individual email box, back-up tape and disc or hand over all of our emails to the attorneys and let them do it, neither of which is a desirable option," said Peter Main, GOHSEP’s IT director. "With Defender we can search by dates, subject, and other parameters and it only takes minutes instead of hours, saving us valuable time and resources, and simplifies the process of responding to discovery orders. Defender also provides secure and reliable built-in storage space, which we will leverage in the event of a disaster."

As the state of Louisiana’s primary command center, GOHSEP can host up to 500 personnel from other agencies in the event of an emergency. Part of the agency’s emergency-preparedness is to be capable immediately of handling a massive increase of emails resulting from a natural or man-made disaster. In such an event, the agency’s email capacity could rapidly increase from its typical 5,000 messages per day to more than 15,000; many of which would include large, time-sensitive attachments such as photographs, maps, diagrams and reports — all critical to the agency’s emergency response efforts.

Prior to deploying ArcMail, GOHSEP emails were stored in individual user mailboxes and on network backup tapes and PST files stored on CDs and DVDs. GOHSEP became aware of the inefficiency of its email archiving system when, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the agency’s email was subpoenaed in litigation related to the disaster. By implementing ArcMail Defender, GOHSEP will be able to immediately increase its email archiving capabilities, as well as access and search email archives quickly, enabling staff to quickly respond to victims’ needs.

"We are thrilled to work with GOHSEP to quickly search for and access mission critical emails during and after emergencies," said Dean Richardson, vice president of sales for ArcMail Technology. "ArcMail Defender’s intuitive web-based interface and lightning fast searches have already, and will continue to make it easier for GOHSEP to search email archives and respond more quickly to discovery orders and requests for important information. Rather than worrying about email archiving, the agency can now focus its valuable resources on disaster preparedness and relief efforts."

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