FY2019 Arlington Fire Department Annual Report FY 2019 | Page 21

Improving 9-1-1 Dispatch: technology & training
Over the past several years, technology in the City’s 9-1-1 Dispatch Center has been evolving at a
rapid pace and this trend is anticipated to continue for a number of years. The 9-1-1 call processing
equipment upgrade, which took place at the end of FY 2018, and the reconfiguration of the queues in
the phone system contributed to a substantial improvement in service delivery. This allowed for 9-1-1
calls to be answered within or above goal the majority of the time. When call volume was high, callers
experienced reduced wait times which resulted in a considerable drop in abandoned calls.
In June 2019, the City’s radio system was upgraded to the latest version along with the other agencies
in the regional radio system. This upgrade brought increased functionality in the handling of data and
enhanced GPS features.
In September 2019, the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system was upgraded to Intergraph 9.4
which included a major enhancement to the mobile software used in the field by Police, Fire and EMS,
as well as the dispatch software used in the 9-1-1 Center.
Enhanced training and certification of the Dispatch Center’s supervisory team continued in FY 2019,
with a number of supervisory personnel becoming certified through the NENA Call Center Manager
Certification program. The Dispatch Center’s Critical Stress Incident Management (CISM) Team was
also reinvigorated. A number of new members joined the team and received CISM training.
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