Editors Note

Engaging a Rapid Response

• By Ralph C. Jensen
• Oct 01, 2017

There is more than one reason why emergency vehicles have lights and sirens. Several years ago, there was a campaign by the Ohio state fire marshal which was, “Move right for lights and sirens.” This makes a lot of sense, allowing emergency response to get where they need to be with minimum interference.

Today, there is much more involved than lights and sirens. Back then, there was no such thing as cloud storage. Today, cloud applications are meaningful and necessary for government applications.

Our cover story in this issue is from Nicholas Maier or RedSky, and he talks about the necessity of finding ways to improve response times. Taking a step back, the government created the 911 system. That was back in 1968. Today, a new standard is part of emergency response, and it resides in the cloud.

The cloud is key because there is text 911, video streaming of 911 events, dynamic geo-spatial routing of 911 calls, all of which require a new architecture. The call routing will be routed by cloud-based applications, which is important because when a caller rings up 911, a database will capture the location of the caller, and it will appear on the emergency dispatcher’s screen. This is a great story that will help explain real-time emergency response.

Our Lindsay Page spent some time with ASSA ABLOY’s Jeff Huggins to better understand and provide information on how to grow your business. Doing business with the government can be challenging, but never fear, there are experts who have done this successfully for years.

Huggins, who was interviewed for this story, will walk you, the reader, through the GSA letter of supply, and how it will benefit you if you want to be a government supplier. Huggins and his team of two others staff members are relatively new to the ASSA ABLOY group, but clearly understand numerous solutions that apply to the government, and will benefit the manufacturer.

Also important to government security is city security, and how the Hartford, Conn., Police Department (HPD) established its Real-time Crime Center and Data Intelligence Center. As seen all too often lately, keeping a handle on crime and criminal activities in the city is a difficult task. How did they pay for it? HPD used various grants and other available monies, all of which you can help an end-user find and secure.

This article originally appeared in the October 2017 issue of Security Today.