Hosted CAD Model Debuts With Advantages

Armed with the experience of hundreds of world-wide computer-aided dispatch (CAD) customers, software developer Tiburon Inc. has now introduced a hosted CAD solution that the company says will shorten deployment time, eliminate the need to purchase or maintain hardware, and reduce the technical staff to keep the system operating. DispatchNow CAD is a full-featured solution that runs on local workstations in the comm center, but which stores data on secure database and application servers at a central location maintained by partner Intrado Inc. The first DispatchNow installation recently went live in Colorado County (Tex.) after a three-month implementation period. Shortly after, the cities of Weimar and Columbus went live with DispatchNow Mobile , providing officers access to law enforcement information from their patrol vehicles, and tracking unit locations using global positioning system (GPS) technology.

Unlike a conventional CAD installation, DispatchNow doesn’t require backroom servers and their associated complexity on customer premises. Instead, all the incident, unit and personnel data is moved back-and-forth between the comm center and Intrado’s data center in Colorado, a technique known in the industry as “Software as a Service” (SaaS). Multiple redundancies keep the CAD data safe. In the unlikely event the communications link is interrupted, the local CAD workstations can continue to handle incidents and unit status changes, and share the data between the CAD workstations. Once communications is re-established, the DispatchNow software will synchronize the local data back to the central data servers without interruption.

With no central servers, there’s no downtime for local back-ups, system or hardware upgrades, or when hardware fails. The complexity of the local network is reduced, further reducing possible points of failure.

Centralizing the data servers also reduces the overall cost of a DispatchNow installation. According to Tiburon, it’s often so affordable that agencies may not need to tap capital expenditure budgets, but rather can fund CAD from an operating budget.

DispatchNow uses a subscription cost model, instead of a single up-front payment. The subscription includes software licenses, server hardware and associated software, deployment and training expenses, software and database maintenance and IT support. The payment also provides server redundancy and data back-up, and software updates to support all newly-developed features of the licensed applications for the duration of the subscription.

The lower cost of DispatchNow CAD appealed to Colorado County, which has 200,000 residents over 1,000 square-miles. In a press release, sheriff Curly Wied added, “Beyond affordability, being able to deploy a full-featured DispatchNow system in weeks, rather than months is what mattered most to us in Colorado County.

Weimar Police chief Bill Livingston was more specific about the software’s benefits. “DispatchNow Mobile arms our officers with more of the critical data they need to safely and efficiently respond to calls in the field.” He cited the ability of officers to file police reports directly from their patrol cars, and the automatic vehicle location (AVL) capabilities that contribute to officer safety and response effectiveness.

Hosted Advantage

In an interview, Albert Israel, V-P of Products and Operations for the DispatchNow product, said by hosting the CAD software at a central location, software improvements, upgrades and other changes can be made for all customers easily and immediately. Technicians are always monitoring the servers and data for proper operation and integrity using proactive monitoring tools. The hosted model also allows product enhancements to be more quickly tested and rolled out to customers, he noted.

“We’re trying to allow small and large customers alike to have the latest and greatest,” Israel explained, “and to collaborate on new features.”

Israel explains that if a DispatchNow customer needs access to local, state or the NCIC law enforcement database, a message switch is installed locally to directly handle inquiries. Criminal histories, warrant, motor vehicle and driver’s license information requested by a CAD workstation is transmitted directly to the workstation and doesn’t move on the CAD T1 data link. Mobile laptop data is routed via a 3G cellular data network directly to the Intrado Data Center and not through the DispatchNow CAD T1 data link.

Israel said the DispatchNow hosted solution will allow customers to benefit from many public safety information and service providers that will become part of the future Next Generation 911 (NG911) network. Specifically, SMS texting, pictures from cell phones, enhanced multi-media location information, streaming video, gunshot detection systems, alarm system feeds, automatic crash notification (ACN), and medical telematics can all be delivered via the hosted solution to CAD and mobile users.

Israel said the company intends to fill out the DispatchNow software line with a hosted law enforcement records package, but added there is no timeline for the roll-out. Right now, Tiburon offers XML-based interfaces from DispatchNow CAD to any agency’s existing records system, as well as the company’s traditionally-deployed records software.

Click here for a larger view of the DispatchNow diagram.