The Northeastern city of Guwahati, experiencing unprecedented spatial expansion and a steep rise in population, has deployed digital mapping system to improve its response time for an accident
Guwahati, the capital of Assam in eastern India, is among the 100 fastest growing cities of the world and is the fifth fastest growing city in India. In recent years, it has experienced unprecedented spatial expansion and a steep rise in population. This rapid expansion places additional pressures on the city’s police department. Additionally, recent bombings have heightened public distress and shone a floodlight on to the need for improving methods of dispatching law enforcement personnel. With this goal in mind, the Guwahati Police Department partnered with InterAct Public Safety Systems. InterAct’s computer-aided dispatch, automatic vehicle locator and GIS solutions increase the capacity and efficiency of the call center, speed officer response times and enhance public safety.
Computer-aided dispatch and automatic vehicle locator improve response times
InterAct installed a new state-of-the art Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone system at the Guwahati Police Department’s dispatch center, tripling its call capacity. The company also deployed InterActCAD, an intuitive computer-aided dispatch (CAD) application that vastly improves community and officer safety. Unlike most traditional CAD systems, InterActCAD is extremely user-friendly, making it easy for dispatchers to get started with very little up-front training. They can execute actions using a variety of methods – graphical, hot key, command line, or drag- and-drop.
As soon as a call comes in, the dispatcher automatically sees the caller’s phone number and window for recording the incident pops up. Once the caller’s location is entered, it is immediately pinpointed on a detailed map display. The dispatch center also has a giant display identifying all current incidents and units in the field. In this way, dispatchers can locate the closest officers to the scene and execute a response faster than ever before possible.
GIS tools provide precise directions to the scene
Once the responding officers are identified, the dispatcher can easily direct them to the scene of the incident via the fastest route possible. InterAcfGIS, InterAct’s mapping application, displays landmarks, aerial and satellite imagery, structural photos and other geo-based items necessary to dispatch a successful response.
Well informed dispatchers improve officer safety
In addition, dispatchers have access to all previous incidents reported from a particular phone number. This is particularly important for alerting officers to potentially dangerous situations they may encounter upon arrival, helping to better prepare them for any circumstance. For example, if there have been recently reported incidents of violent persons in the household the officer is being dispatched to, he will have this information up front to prepare accordingly.
Complete audit trail allows instant review of incidents
All calls are automatically recorded and tagged for easy retrieval. InterAct provides full reporting and archival capabilities of each incident. Having a full understanding of how a situation unfolded is beneficial for the police department, helping to identify ways to improve the response process and resulting public safety.
Preparing Guwahati for the future
The technology is also preparing Guwahati to take advantage of emerging communication infrastructure. For example, the dispatch center is now poised to enable location-based identification tied to the caller’s phone number. This way the dispatcher will automatically know where the caller is located—a particularly helpful piece of data for emergency situations.
Courtesy: Interact911
