Tell us about some of the technological changes that have been happening in your department.

    "With technology moving so fast, governments and police departments don’t always move as fast, mostly because it costs so much money. So we are usually at the back end of changes and technology. But some of the things we’ve done internally are look at the processes in place and what we do on a day to day basis, and try to apply technology to those things. For example, with parking permissions, we used to fill out a form by hand and one copy would go to the records department and one would go to the officer on the street, etc.  So we asked, how can we take things to the next level? We need to be able to e-mail that document and attach it to an MDC laptop that’s in the squad cars so the officer that’s in that beat gets an email message. Plus we now have a remote printer to get things to our remote location in Bensenville, and it's e-mailed to both records departments. It seems like something that’s no big deal, but when you have a process like this for every task you do, it ends up being really inefficient. So migrating to these new technologies and new ways to do things makes things more convenient, and now our dispatchers can do everything from sitting at their consoles.  

The Experience Behind ChiComm

So the saying goes: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. For Mike it wasn't that he didn't succeed in his work, it was that he didn't succeed in finding a place of work that matched both his interests and abilities. Not at first, at least. Mike traveled a unique career path before landing at Chicago Communications.

Pointers from the Principals: Emphasizing Each Customer's Importance

      Over the years I’ve been a part of many different service-oriented organizations.  I’ve spent time in System Implementation roles, Help Desk Supervisory roles, Dispatch Center management, Support Center management, and in Human Resource management, where every employee is a customer.  In each of these roles, as in any customer service role, there were many challenges. Every time the phone rang I had to assume it was a customer calling with a problem of some kind. And throughout the day I’d always say to myself , “That's why I'm here, to help them." It was unlikely the phones were ringing with customers eager to share how wonderful things were.  But there was one phrase I heard frequently over the years and it always surprised me to hear this from a customer: "I know I'm not one of your big customers, so I understand I might not receive the same level of attention but..."

      Every time I've heard this statement, I've always been taken aback by it. My automatic response upon hearing it has always been, "Really?  You're not one of our big customers?  Does knowing that information cause me to behave any differently, or treat you as any less important?"  And my answer to this was always the same -- an unwavering "No, not at all." I didn’t realize an answer that was so obvious to me, could be so unclear to others.

This is a guest blog provided by Smart911 and written by Todd Piett, Chief Product Officer at Rave Mobile Safety. Visit the bottom of this post for more information about Todd. You can follow him on Twitter @toddpiett.

The public safety community is under increasing pressure to find a solution that meets growing public expectations around the ability to Text-to-911. The FCC is actively soliciting feedback on interim solutions while the industry continues working on and evaluating options for texting with NG9-1-1. Unfortunately, misconceptions about texting abound. As a company we have been delivering emergency communications via SMS and have years of data as well as operational experience with the realities of text messaging. We are also actively involved in research and development on text via RTT utilizing the protocols envisioned in NG9-1-1. Based on our experience, here are the top 3 myths:

Myth: Text messaging to 9-1-1 is available today or will be magically enabled by NG9-1-1.

Integrate Your Command

     NG911 is ushering in a new era of public safety dispatch capabilities and concepts.  It will require a whole new way to viewing current problems and a whole new suite of solutions.  These innovations will explode the amount of information at your fingertips for responding to a public safety incident.  Whether it is a large scale fire, a terrorist threat, or a downed power line, having a dispatch platform that can tie into all of the available information is necessary to resolve the problem quickly, effectively and as safely as possible.

     Information availability depends on your level of integration with the connected world and the world is connected with IP Technologies.  By putting as many of your current technologies onto an IP platform, you make your operations as flexible and as easily accessible as you need them to be.  IP is quickly becoming a universal language for information exchange and it is the driving force behind NG911.  Fortunately, P25 voice radio technology is already using IP standards and can integrate very easily with a NG911 platform.  CAD and Records management applications are also becoming more and more IP based for the flexibility and scalability that IP offers.

Jerry Beres

     Jerry is going on 28 years as a Chicago Communications technician. "Not many people can say they've worked for the same company 28 years, it just doesn't happen very often anymore,” he says. “I’m a loyal person and if you take care of me, I'll take care of you." According to Jerry, there have been enough challenges, variety and growth to keep things interesting and enjoyable all these years. Let’s take a closer look into those years to see if he’s right.

Pointers from the Principals: Why Invest In A Maintenance Contract?  

A high level of performance is still expected from these legacy communication systems because of the role it plays in how quickly an organization can respond to a given situation. Cutting corners in an attempt to cut cost and not recognizing the importance of regularly maintained equipment could lead to coverage, functionality or reliability issues that could have been prevented. Similar to a car, if properly installed and regularly maintained your system will perform reliably for years.

Josh Lary

Our management team often receives letters from customers with feedback about their experiences with ChiComm’s staff. Recently one was received regarding an experience with one of our technicians, Josh Lary:

"He really was thorough and honestly my impression was that this guy really cared. He was persistent and didn’t stop until he had exhausted all possible contributing aspects of our coverage issues over there. You and I have been dealing with people and different personalities for many years, but Josh really gave me the impression that he and I had a partnership with this radio problem (might sound a little strange, but I’m sure you’ve occasionally come across an individual who seems to “get it”) and at the end of the day when he left…the radio signal had been improved greatly."

 Tom's Tech Talk (#12): A Trend for Businesses in 2012

     Employers are realizing that the concept of purchasing cell phones for employees is quite an expensive option. Although it provides connectivity to employees over a wide geographic area, it also has lead to personal calls, texting and additional charges that have to be monitored continually. With potential legislation in congress to eliminate cell phone use in cars and especially commercial vehicles, you need options to communicate with your people in the field.