One of the most underused wireless technologies that has been available for many years is the real time monitoring of remote asset tracking or sensor monitoring such as air quality, water quality, temperature, break ins, etc. Often referred to as telemetry, this will become an on going and critical function that all emergency service organizations will ultimately depend on over the next five to twenty years. This type of automated “early warning” “early detection” functionality could instantaneously serve to notify not only emergency service personnel but the media and the general public of many forms of potential concerns.
Given the diversity of wireless technology, devices, networks and software applications used today, the approach for this study was narrowed to assess the benefits and liabilities currently found in the most common and broadest use of wireless technology in emergency services: basic wireless dispatch as a starting point for all emergency services looking for solutions in wireless and for all vendors wishing to provide solutions in this market.
Basic wireless dispatch is defined as the ability to use Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software to send messages to a mobile work force. For example, a 911 center receives a message that an apartment is on fire. The 911 agent would typically use CAD software to enter in the emergency that would immediately trigger a message to the proper fire department in the field, send wireless messages to members of this fire department (especially if it is a rural department where personnel are not located at the station) and other local agencies as necessary (police, hazmat, ambulance, etc.). By focusing on enhancing wireless dispatching that is so broadly used, we believed we would have a higher probability of emergency service organizations adopting this new enhanced model to their existing dispatch methodology for this study.