April 2005
| Project Highlights: |
Busy Department Serving
Fast-Growing Area
|
Full Integration with
FIREHOUSE® RMS
|
On Time and
On Budget |
Halton Hills 911 – Making technology Work – In Record Time
Symposium is pleased to announce that the Horizon EME CAD system and FIREHOUSE Software® RMS are now live and running at Halton Hills’ Fire Protection and Prevention division. The new system provides the town with state-of-the-art call-taking, map-based dispatch, and record management, serving an area of about 285 square kilometers. The project was started in the first week of January and went live the first week of April – an unheard-of timeframe for a project of this scope. This achievement further cements Symposium’s established reputation for providing CAD solutions that are fast, simple, easy, and reliable.
With a population of just over 50,000 the town of Halton Hills is strategically located in the GTA just off highway 401, between Mississauga and Oakville to the south, Brampton to the East, and Kitchener and Guelph to the west. Like many fast-growing municipalities Halton Hills is highly diverse, including built-up residential and manufacturing areas as well as extensive rural districts. Because of the varied service area, the town required a dispatch system with the flexibility to handle a wide range of call types, from structure fires and chemical spills to traffic accidents and agricultural burning.
Department Very Pleased with Results
According to Operations Chief John Martin, the Horizon EME is an ideal fit: “Because of our operations and response area, we needed a system that was highly flexible. We liked the fact that the new system could be configured specifically for our needs, that it could be easily re-configured to meet the changes that come with growth, and that it was fully integrated with the RMS. The Symposium team did a great job, and we’re extremely pleased with our choice.”
System installation was smooth and straightforward, thanks to the close working relationship that was developed between Symposium and the staff at Information Services, GIS, and Fire. Patricia Thielan, Manager of Information Services for the town, had this to say: “Everything went really well, especially given the size and scope of the project, and the number of people that had to be pulled together from different departments. Everything was delivered on time and on budget, exactly as promised. Symposium is a very responsive company, and our experience working with them has been positive in every aspect of this project.”
Over one million people live within a half hour drive of Halton Hills, and the Fire Protection and Prevention division has mutual aid agreements with public safety agencies in the surrounding cities. Now, thanks to the Horizon EME’s powerful multi-jurisdictional dispatch capabilities, Halton Hills dispatchers can more effectively manage combined response, both inside and outside the town boundaries.
The Most Advanced Dispatch Capability in the Region
Now that the system is live, Halton Hills has one of the most advanced dispatch capabilities in the entire region. Jeanette Collier, the division’s Supervisor of Support Services, is very pleased with the impact the system is making on dispatch operations: “Whenever there’s change, you expect a little reluctance, because people get used to working a certain way. But the new system is the best of both worlds – totally customized to the way our dispatchers already work, but providing huge new capabilities. All I’ve heard from the staff are good things, and I think that’s the real test.”
For its part, the team at Symposium is very happy to be working with the town. As company president Robert Day put it, “Halton Hills is a very forward looking municipality, and we are proud and honored to be selected as their dispatch system provider. Now that the system is in, we’re looking forward to making our relationship even stronger, and providing them with the same excellent service and support enjoyed by our other clients”.
For more information, or for those interested in seeing the system in action, please contact Symposium by emailing us at info@symposiumtechnologies.com.
