Daviess County Central Dispatch is putting some new technology into service enhancing the ability of first responders to react to emergency situations.
Central dispatch has added in technology from a firm called Prepared Live that expands both the information dispatchers can receive and streamline the center’s ability to respond to the public.
Daviess County Central Dispatch Director Julie Berry says the most important addition allows people calling in from emergency locations to share visual information.
“It allows us to send messages to people who call in, if they consent to it, which sends them to use a link where they can send us pictures or live-stream video of an incident that is going on, so that we can give our responders more detailed information,” said Berry. “Some people have a hard time describing what is going on. This gives us an eye on the scene before the responders arrive.”
Berry points out that most members of the public have limited backgrounds when it comes to describing an emergency event. That is where adding visuals can be a huge help.
“This is the biggest advantage of this,” she said. “This gets really detailed information to our responders, so they have a better idea of what they will encounter when they get there.”
While the new technology can help in emergency situations it can also help central dispatch in dealing with things like accidental 911 calls.
“It also allows us to send text messages to people,” said Berry. “We get a lot of accidental 911 calls. This allows us to send out text messages to that phone number, checking to see if they really have an emergency that we need to respond to.”
Berry points out that the system allows dispatchers to text out lists that can help the public when their need is for something smaller than a fire or life-threatening event.
“If someone needs a locksmith, we can send them a text with a list of locksmiths in the area,” she said. “If someone needs a wrecker, we can send them a text with the numbers of the wreckers in the county. It is another way to contact people in need of services.”
Like anything that is new, the dispatchers are working their way into using the additional technology.
“It’s a very user-friendly program. All of the staff has done some training on it,” said Berry. “We have begun using some of it, checking to see how it works. We have used it a lot already for the 911 hang-up calls. We feel the more familiar we become with the system, then the more we can make use of it.”
One of the best things about the new technology is the price.
“This is a free program,” said Berry. “The company does have a more involved program with more features that they charge for and that allows the basic system that we are using for free. This is costing the tax payers nothing.”
Berry points out that central dispatch is trying to make the public aware of the new technology so that they will open and use it and not trash it when it comes up on their phones because they suspect it might be a scam.
She says any of the texts will be identified as coming from the Daviess County Indiana Central Dispatch.
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