Synergy (Syn-er-gy) Noun: a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct business participants or elements (such as resources or efforts).
Synergy is a word often thrown around in the corporate world to explain the efficiency and workflows that integrate varying teams and processes in reaching various goals. You may now be asking yourself, What does synergy have to do with a radio dispatch console?
A dispatch console system has to be more than just a call-taking, radio grouping, tone alerting, patch-making system. The dispatch console and the software powering it needs to take small bits of imperfect information from many sources and systems and compile them in a way that allows the dispatcher to take the best course of action. Being able to provide the RIGHT information, at the RIGHT time and in the RIGHT format requires synergy from all supporting systems within a Public Safety Answering Point, Emergency Call Center, or any mission-critical dispatch application you can come up with. Let’s explore some of the integrations and the path its data takes to go from supporting infrastructure to the Dispatch Console.
What possible integrations would be beneficial to have in a Public Safety Answering Point or mission-critical environment:
Mapping
“I wisely started with a map.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
Situational awareness is critical in a radio dispatch environment. In an emergency situation, being able to track units on active patrol from within the console environment will save time when seconds can make a difference. In the example below, we can see how the Enlite™ Cloud-ready Dispatch Console removes the need to bounce back and forth between multiple screens with integrated mapping. To any dispatcher reading this, imagine a world where you only need one mouse and keyboard on your desk! The GUI customization and workflow efficiency Enlite brings the industry one step closer to this reality. While InterTalk is revolutionizing dispatch, let’s clear up some desk space while we’re at it!
Live video feeds
“A picture is worth a thousand words.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
The value of live video integrated into a dispatch console can not be overstated. Dispatchers provide vital information to those who are working in the field. Imagine being able to provide essentially live information to Police, Fire or EMS responding to an active situation. With Enlite, dispatchers could provide status on criminal locations, civilians in the area, operational hazards, and so much more. InterTalk understands the value of live video feeds, but also to ensure their integration was simple to implement within the console itself. Utilizing Enlite web frames, dispatch supervisors can easily add and remove video feeds to the desired mission with ease. Let’s go through a relevant example using the Hurricanes that have been making landfall this year. A utility dispatcher for a power company could utilize live video of strategic locations to provide insight to crews about potential hazards or provide detour suggestions if an area becomes impassable due to the weather. Having this information at the RIGHT time ensures those with boots on the ground can provide their service as efficiently as possible, considering the conditions. That’s Synergy.
AUX I/O
“When one door closes another door opens.” – Alexander Graham Bell
So, you need to unlock a door, open a gate, power up an emergency radio site, and start the office coffee machine before your break. These functions are all possible through a robust AUX I/O interface. Integrating your AUX I/O capabilities into the mission of your dispatch console system ensures the dispatcher can remain focused on the task at hand. This powerful tool has endless applications between market verticals that utilize a dispatch console system, whether they be EMS, Police, Fire, Utilities, mission-critical, or business applications.
Logging Recorders
“Know what you have, where you have it and how long you have to keep it.” – Someone probably
Logging recorders are an integral part of any dispatch console system being utilized in a Public Safety Answering Point, Emergency Call Center or other mission-critical application. Audio recordings and the metadata associated with them need to be cataloged, easily retrievable, and secured, ensuring a Chain of Evidence that can not be tampered with. InterTalk Dispatch Console System (DCS) and Enlite Cloud-ready Dispatch easily integrate with the top logging recorder manufacturers in the industry, such as Eventide™, NICE™, and Komutel™ via the SIP RECORD (aka, SIPREC) protocol. InterTalk also manufactures its own logging recorder system known as the Transcript™ Archival Logging Recorder. Transcript ensures data that flows through cannot be removed, modified, redacted, or hidden, ensuring that an auditable and legal chain of evidence is maintained. Transcript will keep recordings for one (1) year by default, and automatically overwrites audio files older than 365 days with newer files, resulting in a one-year “sliding window” of audio recordings. Audio recordings that must be kept on record can be tagged as “Yellow tape,” ensuring they will not be deleted after one year. Better yet, Transcript requires no additional hardware, utilizing a web-based application that is functional, reliable, and secure. What more could you ask for?
Live Social Media Feeds
“Social Media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you.” – Matt Goulart, Founder, Ignite Digital
Now, this next part is a game changer. There is so much important information that can be gathered through the use of social media, especially in an ongoing emergency situation, vehicle collision, or extreme weather events. Having this critical information integrated into your dispatch console system can provide the dispatcher with better situational awareness regarding any ongoing emergency in their mission area. As we move forward into a more advanced era of radio dispatching, social media will be seen as a valid source of information that dispatchers can utilize. In the example below, we can observe a mission within Enlite™ that is monitoring Twitter feeds from weather services, local fire departments and more, providing a clear picture of ongoing weather events and updates from those who are assisting in responding to incidents. Within the Enlite Radio Dispatch Console, the power is in your hands to build out and customize missions to provide social media information that assists the dispatcher in performing their duties.
Who Offers Dispatch Software That Meets My Needs Today, and Tomorrow?
Enter InterTalk™ Critical Information Systems. Celebrating 25 years in business, InterTalk Critical Information Systems provides robust and evergreen dispatch console systems that ensure the safety and security of its customers. Our dispatch solutions serve as a bridge between existing radio, telephony, analog, digital, and data communications, ensuring dispatchers have the tools they need to maintain safety and keep operations running seamlessly. Our highly trained engineers continue to provide innovative ideas to critical communications environments. Our unique ability to harness the power of open standard design and COTS equipment makes InterTalk the first choice for radio-agnostic dispatch solutions that work with everyone. InterTalk exists to bring the right information at the right time in the right format to those who need it.
In all the examples above, you have seen the power that InterTalk’s latest dispatch console solution, the Enlite Cloud-ready Dispatch Console, can provide to both mission-critical and Public Safety deployments. With the ability to be deployed in traditional on-premises air-gapped systems, hosted through the cloud, or utilized in conjunction with InterTalk DCS, Enlite provides flexibility to your operations, empowering dispatchers with the information that matters most.
Conclusion
No matter what radio dispatch solution you may research for your operations, important questions to ask yourself are:
- Is this solution evergreen? Can it meet my needs today and tomorrow?
(Enlite does that)
- Will we be forced into a restrictive technology environment?
(Not if you choose InterTalk, your premier radio-agnostic console manufacturer)
- Does our potential dispatch provider have a robust and responsive support program?
(I know InterTalk does! ServiceFirst Mission-Critical Support)
- Can our new dispatch software streamline the dispatch process and create further synergy for our operation?
(Yes, and yes. Enlite Cloud-ready dispatch is your answer)
There is no better time than now to start your research and seek out the best option for your needs. In the face pace world of Mission-Critical and public safety communications, it is critical to partner with those that seek to push the industry forward with new tools, ideas and technology that paves the way for your success now, and into the future. When it comes to your agency, you know what is best for your team, InterTalk will listen to your needs, work with you to solve the problems you are facing and provide you with the best fit solution. When you purchase an InterTalk console solution, you get much more than just a dispatch console. You get a partner with over 25 years of radio dispatch experience with the engineering expertise to back it up.
Contact us today to discuss how InterTalk can provide you with the most robust dispatch solution available.
