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County dispatch staff to integrate CAD with ProQA, evaluates countywide alert system amid high call volumes
Summary
Fulton County dispatch staff told the council that integrating the Spillman CAD system with ProQA for police calls would cost roughly $6,500 and that the county is evaluating mass-notification vendors including ReachAlert; staff also reported increased call volume and recent school lockdown alarm testing.
Britney, a county 9-1-1/dispatch manager, told the Fulton County Council March 18 that staff plan to connect the county's Spillman computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system with ProQA so that the nature of police calls will automatically open the appropriate ProQA protocol. Britney said the implementation cost is roughly $6,500 for a year of maintenance plus installation.
"That way, when we assign a call to a police call, the nature of the call will automatically kick open ProQA, which we already have for medical," Britney said. She told the council the county will budget for similar integrations for fire and other disciplines next year.
Britney said dispatch has tested school lockdown alarm systems and measured the time from alarm activation to the 9-1-1 center and to school administration notifications; she described the test results as "pretty fast." She also told the council that the Rochester schools' SRO has been active on security planning.
Emergency Management Director Dawn and staff described work on countywide alert systems. The county has historically used an Everbridge product branded ReachAlert and is evaluating alternatives. Dawn said the county and city will share costs for any new system and that the intent is to enable geographically targeted alerts (for example, cell-block targeting for gas leaks or countywide text alerts for severe weather). She called the services "expensive" but said the county will pursue a vendor that meets needs and budget constraints.
Dawn described recent volunteer emergency response preparations, micro-trainings for volunteers, and coordination with ham radio operators during storm watches. She also said some outdoor warning sirens were not rotating properly during a recent National Weather Service test and that the historical responsibility for maintaining sirens (township vs. county) is unclear and under review.
Staff warned council members that dispatch has seen elevated call volumes in recent weeks, "upwards over a 100 calls per day," and that the workload increase may reflect weather and new responsibilities tied to local police workload.
Council members asked staff to return with budget proposals for the CAD-ProQA integration and to continue evaluating mass-notification vendors with city partners.
