Vocati Communications, Inc.

7.0 quake hits Haiti – Reports of more than 20 Aftershocks.

Earthquake in Haiti

A major earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and power lines and inflicting what its ambassador to the United States called a catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

The magnitude 7.0 quake — the most powerful to hit Haiti in a century — struck shortly before 5 p.m. and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away, witnesses said.

This event has affected the phone lines, Internet lines and cell phones all over the country and within the Dominican Republic.  At just before 5 PM today, we were unable to terminate calls until we routed calls through Brazil.

At 8:14 PM Eastern Time today we re-routed all calls destined for Haiti through Brazil.

We are now completing over 70% of calls into the country of Haiti and are assessing long term communications strategies for the coming days and weeks.

If there is anyone in need of calling Haiti, we can reserve a channel for you and try to get a call through.  We will try and get messages to family and friends in the event that we can not complete your call.  For more information, please send an email to haiti@vocaticommunications.com

We hope the worst of the communication issues are over, but we also understand that as the coming days and weeks unfold, our organization is in a unique position to help.  If there is anything we can do for you, a friend or a loved on, please let us know.

We will do our best to continue to provide phone service into Haiti through our routes in Brazil, but at times we are not going to be able to meet demand.  We ask for your patience and understanding during those times.

We are working with several telecommunications organizations and professional services firms in the US, Latin America and South America to try and build additional capacity to Haiti at this time.  This, however, is a work in progress.  Please see our live blog on this for continued updates.

May the people of Haiti and their friends, families and loved ones be in everyone’s thoughts and prayers in the coming days, weeks and months.

At Vocati Communications, we are not setup to efficiently process direct donations to the recovery efforts in Haiti.  I want to thank each and everyone who has offered to send donations directly to us, but we are not setup to make effective use of these donations.  Instead, President Barack Obama just published a letter to the public with a link for people who want to make donations to these recovery efforts.  We ask that if you want to donate money, please use the link in his letter below to process these donations.

If you are a telecommunications provider, carrier or retailer and would like to assist us in this effort with interconnections, available channels or some other capacity, please send an email to haiti@vocaticommunications.com.

B-Evolved.com and Vocati Communications

B-Evolved.com and Vocati Communications have teamed in the offering of a program called “Minutes for Haiti”.

The aim of the program is to get corporations from around the world to subsidize some communications to family, friends and loved ones in the affected areas of Haiti.  The concept is simple…Sponsors donate a penny a minute for a phone call to Haiti.

For example, companies can donate 1000 minutes to this program.  The cost is $10.00 USD.  B*Evolved and Vocati Communications then connect people wanting to call Haiti with their loved ones in Haiti.  The entire program is underwritten by these sponsors.  Sponsors will be listed on both websites as the program evolves.

It is important to note that there is NO PROFIT TAKEN by either Vocati Communications or B*Evolved for this initiative.  We look at this as our responsibility as citizens of our planet.  We will not profit on the misfortunes of others or acts of God.

If you or your company is interested in contributing to this program, please visit www.b-evolved.com or write haiti@vocaticommunications.com

From the President of the United States of America

Good Afternoon,

The reports and images from Haiti of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes, and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching. As we learn more about the extent of the devastation, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and Haitian Americans around our country who do not yet know the fate of their families and loved ones back home.

I have directed my Administration to respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States Government in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the humanitarian relief — the food, water and medicine — that Haitians will need in the coming days.

This is also a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share, and Americans have always responded to these situations with generosity of spirit. If you would like to support the urgent humanitarian effort in Haiti, I encourage you to visit our website where you can learn more about how to contribute:

http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/HaitiEarthquake

Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at (888) 407-4747.

We will continue to stand with the people of Haiti and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama