TEMECULA, CA — (Marketwired) — 10/14/13 —
VESTA®/Sentinel® 4 system installed in new, State-of-the-Art Public Safety Complex in Florida state capital
VESTA/Sentinel 4 system enables new era of technological capability for first responder agencies in Florida
, an EADS North America company, today announces the successful implementation of its next generation emergency call taking system, , in Leon County, Fla. The system will support the mission-critical communications needs of four first responder organizations under the county-s new consolidated dispatch agency (CDA), helping keep the people in Leon County connected when it matters most.
Home to the state capital of Tallahassee, Leon County has approximately 284,000 residents, plus a growing population from two universities and a community college. Leon County has relied on Cassidian Communications- 9-1-1 call taking solutions since 2005 to field the approximately 230,000 emergency and administrative calls received each year.
When county and city officials made the decision to consolidate their dispatch resources in 2010, it was determined that new communications technology would be needed to effectively support the four agencies coming together under one roof — Tallahassee Police and Fire Departments, Leon County Sheriff-s Office and Leon County Emergency Medical Services. Therefore, the county sought a solution that would be easy to use, yet deliver the power and functionality necessary for quick response, as well as provide a path for Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) by accommodating future, IP-based capabilities like text-to-911.
“Moving to a new facility, while upholding the same level of service our residents are accustomed to, required a solution with little to no learning curve,” said Edith Taylor, Leon County-s 9-1-1 coordinator. “VESTA/Sentinel 4 provides just that. Because of its ability to supply the same look and feel of our existing system, our call takers were instantly comfortable. We also have many new features, like the Activity View application which provides an exceptional level of monitoring and threshold-based alerting. Our supervisors are delighted with this functionality.”
Leon County CDA-s VESTA/Sentinel 4 system supports a total of 40 call-taking positions, divided between its main center — the new, 100,000-square-foot Public Safety Complex — and a backup facility, as well as other public safety answering points, including Florida State University, Florida A&M University, the Capitol Police offices and the county-s mobile unit. This is made possible through the solution-s geo-diverse design, which also provides maximum redundancy to ensure the back-up system is fully operational, should the primary become unavailable.
“I cannot say enough about how smooth the implementation was,” said Taylor. “The level of communication between our personnel, Cassidian Communications, AK Associates and CenturyLink was impeccable. It allowed me to breathe easily during this transition and I can continue to do so with the sense of security that comes with having this truly redundant system.”
Cassidian Communications partners with best-in-class companies, like CenturyLink, to deliver an unrivaled level of service. Todd Jones, public safety major account manager with CenturyLink, said, “The success of the Leon County implementation is ultimately due to the partnership CenturyLink has with Leon County, AK Associates and Cassidian Communications, as well as the dedication of each individual, whether directly or indirectly involved with the project.”
The purchase of Leon County-s next generation emergency call taking system was funded through a Florida E911 grant. The state-s E911 Board offers three grant programs to assist counties with the funding of such systems, enabling PSAPs to secure the technology they need to keep their residents as safe as possible.
Leon County CDA also will use Cassidian Communications- Aurora® MIS (Management Information System) at multiple locations. The ORION Vela® advanced mapping solution will be used in the backup facility along with ORION DataSync map updating solution, which synchronizes the ORION Vela and Aurora applications. In addition, Cassidian Communications will provide complete system security management, a comprehensive bundle of virus protection and patch management, through its Managed Services offering.
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Cassidian Communications, an EADS North America company, is a global leader and trusted source for mission-critical communications technologies, including NG9-1-1 call taking systems, emergency notification solutions and services, and P25 land mobile radio networks and LTE. For over four decades, Cassidian Communications has upheld its promise to keep people connected when it matters most, consistently designing solutions with an open mind and creating smarter, more effective ways to ensure communities are safe. For Cassidian Communications, CRITICAL . The company is headquartered in Temecula, Calif., with facilities located in Richardson, Texas, Franklin, Tenn. and Gatineau, Quebec.
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EADS North America is the U.S.-based operation of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defense, and related services. EADS contributes more than $14 billion to the U.S. economy annually and supports over 225,000 American jobs through its network of suppliers. EADS North America, headquartered in Herndon, Va., offers a broad array of advanced solutions to meet U.S. military and commercial requirements, including fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, homeland security systems, public safety communications, defense electronics and avionics, and threat detection systems.
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