BNet Announces New "Critical Service Provider" Enhancement Program For The Company Emergency Access System

The CEAS program allows businesses and institutions to apply for and pre-issue emergency access credentials to critical business employees that are recognized by local law enforcement officials. The purpose of CEAS is to improve business resiliency by enabling these employees to gain quick access to their places of business within a restricted area following a local emergency or disaster.

(PRWEB) February 20, 2006 -- The Business Network of Emergency Resources (BNet) announced today an important enhancement program to their Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS) that will allow companies to authorize “CEAS access credentials” for external, contracted service providers that perform a critical business function within their organization. BNet is a not-for-profit company dedicated to establishing practical, effective emergency and crisis management solutions through public-private partnerships.

The CEAS program allows businesses and institutions to apply for and pre-issue emergency access credentials to critical business employees that are recognized by local law enforcement officials. The purpose of CEAS is to improve business resiliency by enabling these employees to gain quick access to their places of business within a restricted area following a local emergency or disaster. Cities, by providing this program, acknowledge the importance of helping businesses empower themselves during times of crisis. Credentialed employees can ensure the continuity of critical business functions and maintain guardianship of their organization until normal conditions return.

“With the new Critical Service Provider enhancement, companies that participate in the CEAS program can now, not only authorize their own critical employees, but also externally contracted service providers. This new program allows access to companies’ facilities following a crisis, even if that provider does not maintain a business address within the program’s boundaries,” said Dr. Robert Leviton, President of BNet.

“It is becoming increasingly the norm for businesses to outsource mission critical operations and support activities. While this may help a firm’s bottom line, it also increases risk”, said BNet’s Executive Director, Peter Picarillo. “As a company it is important to be responsive to changes in the business environment that might impact our valued users. Our goal with this improvement is two fold: to raise awareness of the risks that outsourcing may expose during a crisis and then providing a means to reduce that exposure.

The new enhancement program allows the service provider maximum flexibility in determining who will perform the service while still providing government the necessary control over the maximum amount of cards within an area. More information as well as applications for the new service provider credential can be found on-line at www.ceas.com. Or you may contact BNet customer service at 888-353-BNET.

About Business Network of Emergency Resources, Inc (BNet)
BNet, headquartered in New York City, is a not-for-profit company dedicated to establishing practical and effective emergency and crisis management solutions through partnerships between the public and private sector. Created by BNet, the Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS) uses a ‘critical employee access card’ system to mitigate the economic loss incurred through any business emergency and accelerate recovery time for both business and government. For more information visit www.ceas.com.

# # #