Press Release

Oakland County Brings a Touch of Home to American Military Personnel Serving Around the Globe

Pontiac, MI, January 26, 2006 -- Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson today announced a new program that will place families of military personnel at home in a face-to-face setting with their loved ones serving in the Armed Forces  in Afghanistan, Iraq and anyplace else in the world our military are on duty.

Utilizing an adaptation of OakVideo, a video conferencing system launched in 2001 that links the courts and law enforcement agencies in Oakland County, military families will be able to arrange one-on-one video conferences with their loved ones in the Armed Forces serving around the globe.

"Our military service personnel and their families make a huge sacrifice to defend the cause of freedom around the world and this is our small way of showing our appreciation for the great service they provide on our behalf," Patterson said.  "By offering this video conferencing service free of charge to our military families, we hope to shrink the distance between them and make their time apart a little easier."

The live military video conferencing service is a two-year joint partnership between Oakland County and the Michigan National Guard Joint Operations Center. 

Although the military video conference system is based at the 1775th Military Police Company, Pontiac Armory in Oakland County, the service will be made available to families throughout Michigan.

The video conferencing service is made possible through the generosity of Oakland County which donated labor, material and technical support; Polycom Corporation which contributed the video conferencing equipment; Titan Corporation which provided support, security and hardware; Integrated Digital Systems (IDS) which provided wiring, installation and video recorders and AT&T which provided ISDN line installation and will also absorb the monthly charges and connection fees for three years.

Military families interested in taking advantage of this new service should make arrangements through Diane Epps, Distance Learning Manager, U.S. Army National Guard, at (517) 481-8004 or (517) 481-8049 or by email at diane.epps@mi.ngb.army.mil or Bob Pence, Project Manager - OakVideo, Oakland County (248) 721-0928.

After the video conference is completed, a videotape of the visit will be provided free of charge to the participants.

For media inquiries only, please contact Bob Dustman, Media & Communications Officer at (248) 858-1048.

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