Case Study:

Hot Springs County (Wyoming)

Hot Springs County, Wyoming has a population of 4,805 and is 2,004 square miles. In this county there are many sites that are in the national register for historic places. Hot Springs State Park is home to the world’s largest mineral hot springs. Agriculture, mining and tourism make up the largest industries in this county.

Improved Response Time And Accuracy With Cutting Edge PSAP Technology

The Challenge

The existing telecommunications software in the Hot Springs’ PSAP was not compliant with NENA (National Emergency Number Association) Phase I or Phase II standards. NENA’s Phase I and II standards refer to the PSAP’s ability to identify the phone number and location of a wireless caller.

In addition, the dispatch center was not integrated; requiring the call taker to manage multiple systems and retype information between systems with multiple keyboards and mice. Due to the county’s geographic layout, a mapping system would be of great benefit in exactly locating a victim caller to 911.

The Solution

Hot Springs County looked to Amcom Software¹ and business partner Infomine of the Rockies to provide a solution. They installed an integrated workstation that provided a single interface to the dispatcher for all PSAP functions, eliminating the multiple keyboards and mice. As a Nortel developer partner, Amcom provided Xtend pc/psap^®, a Microsoft SQL Server based application integrated to Hot Springs’ existing Nortel Norstar telephone system. This provides the call taker with access to both the 911 trunks and the Sheriff’s administration lines from this intelligent workstation.

The pc/psap solution included a local address database, which is updated by the local Telco. It was also integrated to a new Bullberry mapping system so that as the 911 call is answered on the pc/psap console, the local MSAG (master street address guide) database is queried, and the ALI information is passed automatically to the mapping system which provides a screen pop with a map of the location of the caller.

The Result

The integration of pc/psap with the dispatch center’s existing telecommunications and new mapping systems has been well received by the 911 center staff. It allows the Hot Springs dispatch center to handle a larger call volume by reducing response time, being that call takers no longer have to retype information into multiple systems.

They now have a single keyboard and mouse that traverses all applications across four computer screens displaying the pc/psap, mapping, RMS (records management system), CAD (computer aided dispatch) and Criminal Justice Information systems. The pc/psap implementation has made the 911 center NENA Phase I and II compliant, preparing them to accept wireless caller location information.

The pc/psap application also provided the county with instant recall recording and playback of the 911 conversation, allowing personnel to replay the call for supervisory or training needs. The local database on the pc/psap application provides for more timely and secure updates.

"The partnership with Amcom Software and Infomine allowed this project to be a great success. This is very new technology, so it was imperative that we work with a vendor that we could trust and that would deliver," said Bill Gordon, 911 Coordinator for Hot Springs County. "From the beginning both Amcom and Infomine put me at ease by giving me a feeling of confidence and most importantly, trust. On the first day of the project, Amcom’s project engineer sketched out the entire project and explained what we could expect to be done each day. I immediately realized I was working with a team of professionals who would leave me nothing to worry about."