Geographic Information Systems Insights

2020 was a year that changed the world, creating unique and stressful situations for everyone.  We know frontline workers faced many additional obstacles throughout the uncertain time, and we remain grateful for their ongoing commitment and dedication to helping the communities they serve.

In 2020 GeoComm worked with the Radcliff Kentucky Police Department, to review the current state of the GIS data being used being utilized at their ECC. This project utilized GeoComm’s proven assess, improve, maintain approach for achieving public safety grade GIS data, ensuring its accuracy for routing emergency response through their CAD system. 

On Tuesday, December 8th, 2020, GeoComm and RapidSOS hosted a webinar titled Advancing Location Intelligence:  Accessing Indoor Maps from RapidSOS Portal. GeoComm's John Brosowsky, Vice President of Innovation and RapidSOS' Karin Marquez, Senior Director of Public Safety sat down to discuss: why now is the right time to equip 9-1-1 call takers and emergency responders with indoor location intelligence, the value indoor maps offer when combined with improved 9-1-1 caller location coordinates and Esri’s industry-leading mapping technology, and how to leverage location intelligence through RapidSOS Portal to create unprecedented situational awareness.

We know that in an emergency every second counts and have spent the last 25 years helping our customers save lives and protect property by providing essential, innovative, location-based solutions to public safety professionals.

GeoComm, a leading provider of geographic information and communication systems, has been awarded a Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) contract DIR-TSO-3441 for GeoComm’s public safety software.

GeoComm partnered with Stearns County, Minnesota, and a local non-profit in 2019 on an initiative aimed at mapping the location information for Automatic Emergency Defibrillators (AEDs) in Stearns County. The goal of the project was to empower 9-1-1 PSAPs with AED location information so PSAP call takers could inform 9-1-1 callers of nearby AED locations....

Today, most people expect that 9-1-1 call centers can pinpoint their exact location during emergency calls, even inside of buildings.  But you do not have to look far to find high profile cases where challenges locating 9-1-1 callers indoors have contributed to increased emergency response times, and even tragic outcomes.

By now you have probably heard the statistic that today approximately 80 percent of all 9-1-1 calls originate from mobile phones. More and more people are forgoing wireline telephone service and are relying on mobile phone service exclusively. Indoor maps are needed to fully unlock the life-saving potential of indoor geodetic positions of mobile phones during 9-1-1 calls that the industry has worked so hard for to create.

These three words describe the current condition of El Paso-Teller County 9-1-1 Authority's GIS data. This is a drastic change from how it would have been described in 2016.