Public Safety Software
Written by Susan Geoghegan
Law enforcement professionals, first responders, and corrections personnel rely on integrated public-safety software solutions for improved productivity and greater situational awareness. The basic components of public safety software include computer-aided dispatch (CAD), records management (RMS), mobile computing, and data sharing. However, there are many other solutions tailored to the specific needs of various departments, such as corrections management, pin mapping, fleet maintenance, and E911 interfacing.
These solutions provide enhanced interoperability in challenging operational environments, allowing public safety personnel to perform their jobs more effectively. Spillman Technologies and New World Systems are two of the leading sources of law enforcement and public safety software, both offering over 30 years of industry experience.
New World Systems
www.newworldsystems.com
New World Systems is a privately held and employee-owned company that has provided solutions, including application software, hardware, training and support, for local government and public safety agencies since 1981. The company was founded by its president Larry D. Leinweber, who has over 30 years of hands-on and strategic management experience in the technology and software development industry.
The company’s Aegis™ Suite of Public Safety and Logos™ Suite of Public Administration software are used by over 1,000 public sector organizations nationwide, allowing agencies to streamline operations and increase efficiency.
Designed exclusively for law enforcement and fire and EMS, Aegis Public Safety Software is a fully unified, comprehensive solution that includes CAD, Records Management, Mobile Computing, Corrections Management, and Web-based Information Sharing and Decision Support. Working off a common database, each module integrates with the other for full functionality, resulting in reduced data entry, efficient dispatching, and quick access to records and reports.
Spillman Technologies
www.spillman.com
Since 1982, Spillman Technologies has been exclusively providing public safety software solutions, currently serving almost 1,200 agencies in 39 states. The original idea for Spillman Technologies was developed in the late 1970s by college senior Richard Spillman as part of a computer science project to design a tax roll and budgetary accounting system for Cache County, Utah.
When Spillman learned that the County was also looking to computerize their law enforcement records, he began developing public safety software to benefit agencies nationwide and, several years later, Spillman Technologies, Inc. released its first public-safety software package.
Spillman Technologies offers over 40 off-the-shelf customizable software modules, all engineered for optimal integration and high flexibility. This comprehensive software suite includes solutions for CAD, RMS, Mobile Data & Field Reporting, Mapping & GIS, Crime Analysis & CompStat, JMS, Fire, Data Sharing, and Personnel & Resources. Modules for law enforcement provide effective management of records, command staff, reports, dispatch, investigations, patrol, evidence, GIS, and IT.
Benefits of Integrated Module-Based Software
Spillman software is built for complete system integration, giving agencies the ability to pull up information from one single database through each module purchased. As a result, records only need to be entered once, streamlining workflow, eliminating duplication, and increasing efficiency. This integrated system facilitates real-time data sharing within each agency and across multi-jurisdictional boundaries, allowing sheriff’s offices, police and fire departments, correctional facilities, and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) to share records, maps, and dispatch information.
The modules are sold individually but can integrate as one single database, providing the dual benefits of a highly customizable setup but built as one single comprehensive system. According to Madeleine Roe, MarCom Supervisor for Spillman Technologies, agencies can purchase only the modules they need, and take advantage of off-the-shelf pricing to cut costs. “The modules they purchase share information across all other modules, as they pull data from one single database. And then once purchased, an agency only has to work with one vendor for support, updates, and upgrades,” Roe said.
New World’s suite of Aegis Public Safety Software consists of highly integrated and configurable software applications for Dispatch, Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS and Corrections agencies. Each application offers a series of modules designed to meet the unique needs of a particular department or function. The Aegis applications are also configurable to meet individual agency requirements for reporting, data entry, workflow and approvals.
Public safety agencies may implement any of the Aegis applications separately, or as part of the full or partial suite. However, Craig Bickley, Senior Vice President of Sales for New World Systems, that there are significant benefits to implementing a comprehensive suite of software in either a single agency or in a true multi-jurisdictional deployment.
“Because all of our solutions are developed in-house from the ground up on Microsoft’s latest platform, the Aegis suite offers unmatched integration and workflow between applications that helps agencies increase productivity, reduce data entry and improve access to information,” Bickley stated.
“Information flows seamlessly throughout the suite of Aegis applications, ensuring that data entered in CAD is available to officers in the field, information from reports submitted in the field is available for Officers at the Jail for booking purposes, and that command staff has access to accurate intelligence from the system to make more informed decisions.”
Recognizing that smaller agencies operating with limited resources also require ready access to critical information, Spillman recently introduced Citadex, a cost-effective Web-based records management solution. Because the Citadex system is hosted, it saves smaller agencies the cost of purchasing and maintaining a database.
“Agencies can use Citadex to create name, vehicle, property, incident, offense, and arrest records, as well as generate state and Clery reports,” Roe said. Users can also attach files, such as uploaded photos from a crime scene, which can then be connected to any incident record, including name and incident.
According to Bickley, the trend toward consolidation in the public safety industry is another benefit for the smaller agency. New World Systems found that the tendency toward agency consolidation and the sharing of resources is the most cost-effective option for smaller agencies with limited funds that are looking for a solution.
“Through consolidations and consortiums, agencies are acquiring high-quality technology solutions, sharing administrative and maintenance responsibilities, and as an added bonus, are able to share information more easily. Our Aegis suite of Public Safety software is ideal for these multi-jurisdictional/multi-discipline environments.”
Challenges Ahead
As the use of data and analysis in the decision-making process continues to grow, public safety will need information presented to them in a way that is timely, reliable, and actionable. Spillman has analytics and Intelligence-Led Policing modules that help public safety agencies make sense of the data they are gathering, allowing them to leverage the data they are capturing daily. In addition, cross-jurisdictional data sharing is becoming more important, ensuring that accurate and reliable analysis of data is taking place.
“Technology is never going to stand still, and we recognize that if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward,” Roe stated. “Spillman takes a proactive approach to ever-changing standards by participating on industry boards, which are defining the standards that are still yet to come, including within the Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute.”
Spillman also builds industry partnerships through membership in the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), International Association of the Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Sheriff’s Association (NSA), National Emergency Number Association (NENA), and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS).
New World Systems is seeing a greater number of agencies nationwide addressing advances in data sharing, mobility, access to intelligence, and preparing for Next Generation 911. According to Bickley, when an agency implements a public-safety software solution, they are making an investment that should last them for a minimum of 10 years. To meet this need, New World continues to invest millions of dollars in research and development and works with agencies across the country to continuously enhance the Aegis suite.
“By leveraging the most current Microsoft technology as the platform for our solutions, we are making sure that the Aegis software works the way our customers do and evolves as technology advances at a limited cost. Our goal is to protect our customers’ long-term solution investments, make them as efficient as possible, and ensure they are ready for these future requirements,” Bickley said.
Susan Geoghegan is a freelance writer living in Naples, Fla. She can be reached at skgwriter@comcast.net.
Published in Law and Order, May 2014