Series 3200 Proves Its Worth in 49-Position PSAP

In July of 2007, the state-of-the-art call-taking and dispatch system that had just been installed in the brand new 9-1-1 Communications Center at DeKalb County, Georgia, proved its worth.

Mere minutes after the cutover to the new system had been completed, a man whose wife was having a heart attack called the center for help.

The man was in a vehicle trying to get his wife to a hospital. He was frantic and unable to give his location. But thanks to the center’s Zetron 3200 E9-1-1 Telephone System, its computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and mapping functions, and Phase-II wireless re-bidding—which helps pinpoint a cell caller’s location—the operator was able to track the caller on the map and dispatch emergency personnel immediately to the vehicle. The ability to provide this kind of rapid response can make the all the difference in a life-threatening emergency.

DeKalb County
Located in the north-central portion of Georgia, DeKalb County has several claims to fame. It is one of the most affluent majority African-American counties in the United States. It is home to Emory University, the Centers for Disease Control, and the eastern portion of the city of Atlanta. And during the Civil War, the Battle of Atlanta was fought primarily in DeKalb County.

DeKalb County’s main PSAP
The responsibility for DeKalb County’s public-safety and emergency medical communications response and dispatching falls to the DeKalb County Police Department. Its Communications Division provides 9-1-1 emergency call-taking and dispatching services for the County Police, the Fire Department, the County’s emergency medical services (EMS), and the Sheriff’s Department.

A new 9-1-1 Communications Center
In 2005, DeKalb County decided to move their 9-1-1 Communication Center and Police Department to an entirely new facility. They also decided to install a new radio dispatch and call-taking system as well. This was the perfect opportunity for them to obtain a system that would give them improved configuration, flexibility, and the additional features and statistical information that a new system would provide.

It takes a village
To determine exactly what needs and requirements the new solution should address, the DeKalb Police Department assembled a focus group made up of representatives from all of the departments that had a stake in the system. This included the police, fire, and administration departments, as well as 9-1-1 center personnel. A group of technical experts from InterAct and BellSouth/AT&T also worked with the DeKalb team to help them outline their requirements.

"There was a very open and active exchange of ideas among Terry McLarty [InterAct Account Manager], the focus groups, and myself," says Paul O’Neal (Neal) Hardin, ENP, Telecommunications Supervisor and Radio Systems Manager for DeKalb County. "It was a very good process. It helped us figure out the best possible solution within reasonable limitations."

The solution
The solution that was finally agreed upon and implemented for DeKalb County consists of:

49 positions of Zetron’s 3200 E9-1-1 telephone System
InterAct Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Mapping
30 9-1-1 trunks and 49 administrative phone lines
Motorola Gold Elite Radio Dispatch System
NiceLog Logging Recorder

The system configuration
Call-center personnel in addition to those on the core team helped determine how the new system would be configured. "Shift supervisors and senior operators—both call-takers and dispatchers—were all involved in helping us figure out the system configuration," says Terry McLarty. "This gave the center personnel direct input into how the system would be set up and how it would operate."

"It was very important to include operators in this process," adds Hardin. "They’re the ones who have to live with the system 24/7. Our attitude was, ‘If we can make them happy, we need to do it.’"

A steep learning curve
Both McLarty and Hardin mention that the number of new products the operators had to learn in order to use the new system posed a challenge.

"It took quite an effort to do a live cut to a center filled with new equipment the operators had never used before," says McLarty. "On most cuts, the operators might have to learn one or two new products. In this cut, they had six new products to learn before they could sit down to take a call."

To help address this challenge, around-the-clock training was provided for all communication center personnel before the cutover took place. "Training was key," says Hardin. "We want an operator on a call to be focused on the best response to the situation, not worrying about how to use the equipment."

"We also had a full staff of product specialists that provided 24-hour onsite support 15 days after the system went live," adds McLarty.

"Our margin of error is zero"
"The cut was completely successful," says McLarty. "The solution continues to provide dependable service under very heavy call volumes."

"We get well over a million calls a year, and our margin of error is zero," says Hardin. "We needed a system that would be reliable, redundant, and intuitive for our operators to use. And that’s what we got. We also find that the more we use the telephony equipment, the more we want to refine and customize it. The Zetron telephone equipment is very configurable and flexible; it lets us make the changes we need over time."