Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31793
2011 Central Station SOURCE BOOK www.securitysystemsnews.com Technology transforming emergency response Is 2011 the year of streamlined central station/PSAP relationship? BY DANIEL GELINAS to PSAP Data Exchange Program, the program’s goal is to remove the potential for human error from central station/ public safety answering point (911) com- munications. The program began as a pilot computer- aided-dispatch (known as CAD-to-CAD) initiative between the city of Richmond, Va. and Vector Security, and has blossomed to include participation from other central stations like United Central Control and Monitronics, and associations like the Central Station Alarm Association and Association of Public-Safety Communications Offi cials International (APCO). Hobgood is Public Safety Team project manager for the IT B Bill Hobgood department of the city of Richmond. He's hoping 2011 will be the year that CAD-to-CAD fi nally becomes the norm in the world of central station/PSAP communications. A little background on PSAPs: A PSAP is a call center respon- sible for answering calls to an emergency telephone number for police, fi refi ghting, and ambulance services. Trained telephone operators at the PSAP are usually responsible for answering calls from central stations and end users. PSAPs dispatch the appropriate emergency services. “We’re looking forward to more and more alarm companies getting on board with this,” Hobgood, who is a project coor- dinator with APCO, told Security Systems News. “I think 2011 will be the year that this program really takes off.” What is the aim of the Monitoring Station to PSAP Data Exchange program? Who’s involved and why is it so important? Are there other initiatives underway to help streamline the central station/PSAP relationship? Ed Bonifas, president of the CSAA, said Ed Bonifas that organization is readying initiatives to further interest in the program. “The industry is really not at liberty to say, ‘No thank you’ with this program. I think it’s paramount right now that we fi nd a way to properly communicate with public safety,” Bonifas said. “We’re putting the steps in place as we speak to make this an industry-wide program. Our goal 6 JUNE 2 0 1 1 ill Hobgood believes a program he’s stewarding will fi nally streamline the central station/PSAP relationship. Called the Monitoring Station is to make participation affordable to smaller central stations so eventually everyone is doing it this way.” The Monitoring Station to PSAP Data Exchange Program has been developing and gaining momentum since 2004. Monitronics International, one of the largest wholesale central stations in the U.S., in March became the third cen- tral station to join the pilot program. The program, spearheaded by Vector Security’s president Pam Petrow, has picked up speed over the last few years. Vector was the fi rst central to pilot the program, followed by United Central Control last year. In order to join the pilot program, Monitronics had to fi rst pass muster with NLETS, an interstate justice and public safety network facilitating exchange of law enforcement-, criminal justice-, and public safety-related information, by passing that organization’s National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) inspection. NLETS provides electronic messaging to allow information exchange among state, local, and federal agencies and support services to justice-related computer programs, according to the network’s website. Monitronics passed its NLETS inspection in early April and has begun testing in Richmond, Va., to prepare for an implementation in Houston, which has the fourth largest PSAP in the nation, according to Monitronics central station and data entry director Mary Jensby. “This program replaces the telephone calls between the alarm company and the 911 PSAP call-takers,” Jensby said. “Central stations will gain an immediate communication from the PSAP, eliminating hold times sometimes experienced when making a dispatch. The program will not Pam Petrow Mary Jensby only reduce the amount of phone calls that are received by an agency on a daily basis, but will also eliminate the potential for human error.” UCC president Teresa Gonzalez said UCC got involved in order to stay on the cutting edge. “UCC has been following this CSAA project development from its infancy several years ago. It was fi rst tested by Pam Petrow and her team at Vector Security along with Bill Hobgood, from the Richmond, Virginia PSAP,” Gonzalez said. “Under their guidance PSAP see page 8