WASHINGTON CO. E-911 ONE OF SELECT AGENCIES TESTING NEW DISPATCH SOFTWARE
Washington County emergency dispatchers are currently among the first in the nation testing innovative new software.
During Tuesday’s Washington County Commissioners Court meeting, Washington County E-911 Director Kristi Stamnes said the department is in the process of working with the Brazos Valley Council of Governments (BVCOG) and Motorola Solutions to test and develop products that will enhance 911 services.
One of the new pieces of software being tested is Command Central 911 Smart Transcription, a cloud-based service that allows for voice audio taken over an emergency call to be transcribed during the call. It also uses searchable fields to find key words and phrases said during the call.
Stamnes said the service easily integrates into the county’s existing 911 system, offering a way to verify caller information, monitor calls in real-time, and store transcripts for post-call analysis. She said, instead of having to go back through a call and listen for important words or phrases, the transcription service does it for them either in real time or post call.
The second testing project is for Command Central 911 Citizen Input, also a cloud-based service that allows citizens to send media such as photos, recordings, or videos to the dispatch center, which is considered a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The PSAP can choose whether to accept or deny incoming media, as it comes in on a permissioned basis.
Stamnes said this service also integrates well into the county’s current system, allowing easy managing and storage of visual content. She said this software allows dispatchers to better visualize any particular situation at hand.
Stamnes thanked BVCOG’s 911 Program Manager Anita Pitt, who she said played a vital role in coordinating the partnership with Motorola. She also thanked Motorola for the opportunity to test the software itself.
Stamnes said the ability to test the new software comes at no cost to the county. The software will be tested for a few months in order to see its day-to-day capabilities and if it can perform to the level needed by dispatchers. She said there is not a dedicated time frame for the testing, but there should be enough time to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the software, as well as what tweaks can be made for its full implementation.
The software is not the problem! It’s the dispatchers they have working. Most are very rude when you call 911 or the non emergency number. Listen to the police scanner and you will hear it for yourself, they talk to the officers like they are annoyed with them. Not professional at all! I would not trust my life in the Washington county dispatchers hands.