Emergency Management, much like business, has an
Improvement cycle: plan, train, exercise, after-action, plan…
With the achieved success, the question was, how do we make
This thing better?
Here are the issues that we identified:
This is our current setup. We have an analog softphone which
Presents some challenges to UC integration. The city is
Looking at VoIP technologies.
You can see the monaural headset on the desk.
Why not use both ears. We could use balance on the radio
channels to move one to the left ear and a different one
to the right ear.
ICS 101 – The incident command system is the operations bible
For emergency services. This is a very basic structure of an ICS
System. Everyone that fills a seat in the JEOC will be in one of
These roles.
The question is, how can we leverage IBM Social Business to
Help us keep track of that.
IBM Connections will be the answer for us as all personnel will
Be tagged with “positions” they are rated to fill. Let us show you
More.
UnifiedEdge is going to develop a customized log-in page.
The demographic information entered in this page will dump to
Connections. Once the information is filled out, the next time
One logs in, they will see the pre-filled information and be able
To change it if needed.
You’ll also see the employee / non-employee boxes which will
Help determine internal vs. external users.
And finally the position will drive everything in this system. The
Position will eventually drive the buddy list you see, the radio
Channels you get, and eventually the phone numbers you are
Assigned.
Here’s a screenshot of Connections and the profile tags that can
Be entered. Not only will it be positions, but other skills, training
Classes taken and languages spoken to name a few.
The Connections app for Blackberry is shown on the right.
Here you can see standard screenshots of Sametime with
Unified Telephony and even the radio app for blackberry.
Imagine walking into an activation into our JEOC. Without
Looking at a chart, or asking someone, one can sit down and
Start working right away, and if they need to know who is in
One of the other positions, they can look up that information on
Connections.
Not only that, but once they look someone up, then they can
Click to chat, click to call, click to video, click to instant meeting,
The possibilities are endless!
This is the new mockup of our new full screen client from
UnifiedEdge. Instead of flipping tabs, you can see that we have
Sametime, RadioConnect out to the side, Connections,
And then video chat an SUT.
It isn’t final, but panels will be collapsible or have sliders.
Maybe spaces will even be assignable to different plug-ins!
This is the current build as it sits at Fort Worth.
We have a network called JEOC that is connected to the main
City network, but they are firewalled off at either end.
We can only access Sametime / RadioConnect from the JEOC
Or staff offices. Connecting away from the office is possible,
But it’s not optimal as we have to VPN in and connections can
Sometimes be lacking.
This build is now in process. The three servers are in and being
Worked on. Each component: Sametime, RadioConnect, and
Connections will each have their own server. They will all be
Accessible through the JEOC.
They will also be exposed to the internet in several ways.
First, we will be able to utilize mobile apps such as iOS and
Blackberry. Sametime and Connections for iPad and
WAVE for Blackberry give us that option.
Additionally, we’ll be able to log into a web interface from
Anywhere we can get to the internet from a browser.
Beyond that, we’ll have the capability to connect with FD / PD or
other departments if needed. This could also be accomplished
Outside the city with a media server or partnering with another
Network.
This is the WAVE dispatch communicator console. Essentially
We’re showing you that you can dispatch from this system as
Well.
You can also patch channels. Imagine patching IP channels to
Radio channels!!
This is the Sametime App for iPad. It’s important to mention at
This point that Fort Worth has 7-8 duty officers that have “duty”
a week at a time. They are a 24/7 contact that week for anything
That happens in the city. Whether it be responding to a fire, or
A suspicious package or even severe / winter weather, the duty
Officer has to be connected via chat and radio at a moment’s
Notice.
This network and system will allow Fort Worth to greatly
Expand on that capability.
This is just an example of Sametime Instant Meeting with
Video Teleconferencing.
Our challenges with this next phase are the following:
We want to keep things as simple as possible. It’s a challenge
With all of the systems involved.
Everything has to go through IT, to get the right ports open, to
Keep the system secure, to make it work across multiple
Networks, etc…
Managing accounts internally and externally is a challenge
That is difficult to solve, however we believe we have some
Options on how to accomplish that.
What happens if when the city goes VoIP, they implement a Cisco
System, or Lync, etc. The good news is that we haven’t done
Anything that wouldn’t be able to integrate with whatever the
City does.
