Federal Engineering presented a two-phase evaluation of the Santa Fe Regional Emergency Communications Center on Thursday, outlining operational and technical recommendations designed to reduce call-answer delays and improve redundancy.

Eric Perry of Federal Engineering summarized phase 2 (staffing and operations) and phase 3 (technical review). Perry told the board the firm’s analysis indicates the RECC needs an additional 20 telecommunicators and a new dispatch operations assistant (an operations coordinator) to stabilize staffing, provide coverage for breaks and training, and reduce reliance on forced overtime. Perry described a three-tier staffing plan that phases hiring from a minimum to operational and then optimal staffing level, and he said moving toward dedicated call takers and clearer division of call‑taking and dispatch duties would improve performance.

The consultant flagged several technical items in phase 3: replacement of aging server hosts to standardize hardware and ensure seamless failover with the disaster‑recovery host; consideration of a CAD replacement path and hiring a consultant to guide requirements and selection; and adoption of RapidSOS Unite for live transcription, multimedia sharing and AI-assisted alarm processing. Perry said the existing Central Square (1Solution) CAD is serviceable but nearing capacity for the center’s growing workload and that careful planning and vendor coordination will be required for upgrades.

Board members and Director Lujan discussed timelines and procurement. Manager Schaffer recommended budgeting for near-term steps to reach “minimum” staffing in the next fiscal cycle and noted staffing increases will be phased as part of future budgets. Several public safety chiefs raised integration concerns, noting Santa Fe Police is pursuing other vendor systems (Axon, Mark43) and asking that integration compatibility be considered in any CAD procurement.

Perry and the RECC leadership said they will provide detailed recommendations in the written report and that the board should review the full packet for the technical appendices. The presentation closed with the board asking staff to prioritize filling current vacancies and to consider a consultant-led procurement process if the board wishes to pursue a CAD replacement or major system integration project.