A group of 14 City employees from our Police Department, Fire Department and IT Division have been spending a lot of time lately in a series of demonstrations by vendors of public safety software packages. Over the past three weeks, the group dedicated a day (yes, an entire day) to four different vendors in order to begin understanding the software packages that are available in the market right now. The information the group gathered from these four demos will be used to create a Request For Proposals (RFP) that will be released later this month. We are planning to receive and evaluate proposals in March and April. We will submit the recommended proposal to the City Council for approval in May.
The software we’re purchasing is the key link connecting you to the City’s public safety services. It will be the root of our 911 dispatching system, our public safety radio and mobile computer communications network, and our public safety records systems. Our current system is reaching the end of its useful life. The new system was authorized by the Council during the 2008-2009 budget process. We are estimating that it may cost over $1,000,000 so it’s very important to be very sure we know what we need and to negotiate a good deal with the preferred vendor.
In order to be very sure we know what we need, we are dedicating staff resources to study the issue. We’re talking to police officers, 911 dispatchers, police records technicians, IT support techs, and fire fighters. We need to hear their ideas and concerns to be able to translate them into software features and functionality. The “translation” stage is where everything is right now.
If we do this right, the transition from the old system to the new system will be seamless. You won’t notice a thing. That’s what I’m hoping for.
