Washington county consolidates 911 systems
Connecting state and local government leaders
Pierce County, Wash., creates South Sound 911, an 'interlocal agency' consolidating 911 and dispatch, records and technology services across 22 fire and 16 police departments.
Pierce County, Wash., has consolidated 911 systems and emergency response centers across five local jurisdictions in order to streamline dispatch and rescue operations as well as standardize on the technology that supports them.
South Sound 911, the resulting “interlocal agency,” consolidates multiple public safety answering points (PSAPs) for police, fire and emergency medical services across the state's second most populous county.
The interlocal agency, drawn from Pierce County, the city of Tacoma, the city of Lakewood, the city of Fife as well as West Pierce Fire and Rescue, will tie in 911 and dispatch for 16 law enforcement agencies and 22 fire departments.
South Sound 911 is the result of a collaboration between 911 centers and the local community. In November 2011, Pierce County residents voted for a 0.1% sales tax increase to support public safety. With the community's support, five 911 centers are consolidating, and an integrated radio system will be built.
"Interoperability, information sharing and standardization are some of the key capabilities we sought to support South Sound 911's mission and vision," said Andrew Neiditz, executive director of South Sound 911.
To deliver those services, the county recently acquired a set of technologies from Intergraph Corp., including a computer-aided dispatch system and a suite of mobile, mapping and analytics applications.
The company’s I/CAD system replaces prior multiple disparate systems with a multisite, multijurisdictional, multidiscipline capability to public safety teams across the state, according to Neiditz.
The system integrates call management and dispatch with analytical, mapping and mobile applications. Intergraph EdgeFrontier integration software manages interfacing and integration between the public safety agencies.
In addition to I/CAD, Intergraph mobile technologies for laptops, tablets and smartphones will allow personnel in the field to exchange dispatch messages, view incident details and query databases.
The company’s Mobile Responder, Mobile for Public Safety, I/Netviewer, I/NetDispatcher and I/Tracker provide Web and mobile dispatching capabilities, while its BI Direct and Incident Analyst features enable reporting and analytical applications, according to Intergraph.
"This technology will allow us to assign resources from any or all agencies to a single incident providing better protection for our first responders and safer communities,” said Neiditz.