Approval has been given by NASA and the California Institute of Technology to transfer a new, sophisticated computer message handling system to Telos Corp. for marketing.
The system, developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory by a JPL-Telos team under contract to the Department of Defense, is called the Automated Message Handling System. It adds organization to message distribution by automatically routing electronic mail and news to interested readers according to content.
"The new system bridged the old telegram type traffic used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called AUTODIN," said Maurice Roe, product manager for Telos. "It brought the paper world onto the end-user's desktop personal computer."
The system will be used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the 1,300 members of the staff who receive more than 520,000 messages a year.
The transfer is part of an ongoing effort by JPL to develop information processing systems for the government and then transfer the technology to industry for product support and commercial marketing.
The original message handling system technology was developed years ago by JPL for the Army War College, said William Frey, manager of software-intensive systems at JPL. "The latest configuration is what the Joint Chiefs now have, and it has evolved over the years in association with Telos," Frey said.
Telos Corp., a Herndon, VA, based information technology company, has provided technical support to JPL in the area of space and defense communications since 1975. It was selected as the transition contractor for JPL's new message system in 1995.
"The close working relationship between Telos and JPL has proved invaluable in the success of the AMHS transition to industry," said Bob Spearing, president of Telos Information Systems.
The system has been installed at more than 30 Global Command and Control System sites around the world, Roe said.
The California Institute of Technology manages JPL for NASA.
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