Companies Offer Support

In the days following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, many IT companies set up relief funds and made donations to the American Red Cross. But many also freely gave of their core services. Raytheon Co., Lexington, Mass., volunteered 25 of its infrared cameras for recovery operations, as well as the use of several of its aircraft. The cameras, which detect heat given off by an object or a person, were used to help find survivors in the rubble. Telecommunications provider Sprint Corp., Westwood, Kan., opened its network as a free conduit for communications. Sprint provided nearly 2,000 wireless phones to rescue workers in New York City, and another 300 phones to workers in Washington for rescue communications. Similarly, local telephone provider Verizon Communications Inc., Bedminster, N.J., opened its 4,000 Manhattan curbside pay phones for free use. The company also made available more than 200 wireless phones to serve lower Manhattan. AT&T Corp., New York, donated $10 million in prepaid long-distance calling cards. Telecommunications company Qwest Communications International Inc. of Denver expedited circuit orders for hospitals, as well as donated office space, network connectivity, Web hosting facilities and back-up services for its New York customers without service. Viisage Technology Inc., Littleton, Mass., offered the FBI free use of its face-recognition software to help in their investigation of the attacks.Others responded with personnel. Accenture Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda, pledged $1 million in services by employees who wished to volunteer to help New York resume its IT-related operations.