St. Mary's County Overhauls its Emergency Communications System with an End-to-End Solution Developed and Implemented by iXP

Sector: Government

Focus: Public Safety Radio Communications

Started: 1999-2002

Situation

St. Mary's County, a Maryland suburb one hour outside of Washington D.C., was faced with the challenge of updating an emergency communications system that was no longer serving the service goals of the growing community.

The county faced several emergency communications challenges and required a multifaceted solution that would ensure that emergency telephone calls could get through, emergency responders could be dispatched on-demand, and the safety of its citizens and public safety providers would be assured. They also needed a creative solution for financing the project that would not impact the County's bond cap.

First, St. Mary's needed an updated emergency radio infrastructure and equipment. Large strips of the county were notorious for "dead spots" due to an aging public safety radio system. This required the design and implementation of a new 800 megahertz radio system used by law enforcement, fire and medical responders. Second, the existing communications center was housed in an old bunker and needed desperately to be replaced with a modern people friendly facility.

Solution

iXP envisioned an end-to-end system integration solution, including third party financing, to deliver a new emergency communications system for St. Mary's County. The system would support law enforcement, fire, and medical responders, as well as an emergency E9-1-1 call answering facility that would solve St. Mary's communications problems.

The iXP team delivered a customized, comprehensive solution for St. Mary's County, bringing to bear iXP's unique SAIF® methodology and extensive public safety communications expertise in governance, operations, technology, and facilities.

iXP began the process by performing an assessment of the issues facing the county and creating a business case for the design, construction, and deployment of a high-quality and efficient public safety emergency communication and information infrastructure. This included a new facility, significant upgrades to all technology components, and a new trunked 800MHz radio system.

iXP also provided a compelling financial solution that allowed the county to finance the work outside of its normal capital and operating budgets. Finally, iXP created an end-to-end communications system that incorporated new telephony, computer-aided dispatch. and a state-of-the-industry radio network.

Results

The impact of the new communications system has been immediate and far-reaching. After building a business case for the project, iXP designed the facility, telecommunications, wireless voice and data systems, and overall solution technical architecture. iXP planned and managed the entire program; supervised all vendors; integrated multiple technologies; and conducted operational consulting and training. This end-to-end approach allowed the St. Mary's County staff to successfully assume control and management of the new environment - all within a budget and timeline that was reasonable and affordable for the county.

The improved radio coverage that resulted from the project-- just one of many improvements-- attracted the interest of the Maryland State Police, who began working more closely with the county to leverage the radio system to help increase locally assigned state officers' capabilities and safety.

The new call-answering and dispatch facility has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of county call-takers and dispatchers. The communications solution also provides radio interoperability for all public safety agencies using the system.

Finally, the iXP solution has greatly improved emergency response time, facilitating information transmittal to optimize speed and costs. It also provides a platform on which to build more and increasingly advanced public safety communications in the future.

Value Delivered. Problem Solved.