Zetron, a global pioneer in integrated mission-critical communications technology, announced that the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEMD) has awarded a new contract to Zetron for the continued delivery and management of the statewide Next Generation 9-1-1 Shared Services Program.
emergency communications centers
Since 2018, Zetron has successfully advanced Iowa’s Next Generation 9-1-1 Services, enabling regional emergency communications centers statewide to realize significant cost savings while migrating to new technology.
To date, more than 70 of Iowa’s 112 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) have successfully migrated to Zetron’s hosted solution for emergency call-taking and other shared services. Zetron’s Max Call Taking Next Generation 9-1-1 system is hosted in geo-diverse, environmentally hardened facilities in multiple sites within Iowa.
Other services
In addition, to call taking, Zetron’s statewide program also includes other services to Iowa PSAPs, including:
- Text-to-911 - to respond to emergencies reported via text messages.
- Map Viewer – plotting the location of calls on a map.
- Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) – automatically capturing and sharing critical incident information with first responders in real-time.
- Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) – providing standardized emergency medical instruction protocols to public safety telecommunicators.
- Recording – centralized logging.
current and efficient tools
The partnership with Zetron to deliver Next Generation 9-1-1 Shared Services Program is a win-win proposition"
“Emergency services are constantly inundated with different types and sources of critical incident data, so our goal is to make the telecommunicator’s job as streamlined as possible,” said Blake DeRouchey, 911 Program Manager, Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
“The partnership with Zetron to deliver a statewide Next Generation 9-1-1 Shared Services Program provides the most current and efficient tools available to our Public Safety Answering Points at a fraction of the taxpayer cost it would take for them to upgrade on their own. It’s been a win-win proposition for our counties that have joined the program so far.”
MAX Call Taking
Zetron’s MAX Call Taking is the centerpiece solution of the statewide Next Generation 9-1-1 Shared Services Program. It offers PSAPs a flexible, user-friendly, and highly interoperable system for receiving and efficiently managing the many forms of disparate data that bombard emergency communications centers.
MAX Call Taking is part of a full MAX Solutions emergency response communications platform or can be delivered as a point solution, directly integrating with other existing PSAP communications technologies. So ‘forklift upgrades’ aren’t necessary for Iowa PSAPs utilizing other systems to take advantage of the shared services model.
on-site service and support
9-1-1 Shared Services Program is a collaborative partnership between public and private entities"
With over a hundred PSAPs located across the state and a robust set of emergency response solutions available through the shared services program, having regional on-site service and support managed by RACOM Corporation, a Zetron Premier Partner headquartered in Iowa, has been a key element of the program.
“The state of Iowa Next Generation 9-1-1 Shared Services Program’s success and new contract award has been the result of a remarkably collaborative partnership between public and private entities at the state and local levels,” said Scott French, President and Executive General Manager of Zetron.
Efficient services
“Since the beginning, Zetron and HSEMD have maintained hyper-focus on providing Iowa emergency response teams with the best technology and services available to more efficiently serve their constituents.”
“And in a way that serves as a model for overcoming the all-too-common financial challenge of transitioning our nation’s most critical communications functions off of the 20+-year-old technology systems that an alarming number of them are still forced to rely on.”
