Technology improvements for fire-safety call logging
Improvements in media’s retrieval speed, remote access and a variety of markers have made call logging more efficient and versatile. The platform, training and vendor reliability remain crucial to implementing a system.
Call logging systems remain a staple of any modern fire department. However, the basic applications for recording have expanded well beyond radio transmissions and telephone calls. Over the last several years, savings in technological costs have enabled manufacturers of call logging systems to offer busy departments faster access to calls, more flexible search criteria and remote access to information.
Retrieval of calls Speed of access to information has always been an important aspect of logging systems in the public safety environment, and today’s systems respond to this need better than ever before. Systems are now available that give users access to thousands of hours of calls instantly from their PCs’ hard drives.
Playback from archive drives has also improved through the use of Magneto Optical and DVD disk archive drives. These drives provide near-instant access to calls and are replacing DAT tape-based technology as the media of choice in fire-safety applications. Some units allow playback of recorded calls via any touch-tone phone, thereby giving busy battalion chiefs access to important information from any location.
Versatile search criteria make access to information easier and faster than ever before. Systems today offer time, date, channel, call duration, call direction, DTMF, caller ID and call comments as possible search criteria. More sophisticated systems provide CTI upgrades that include ANI (automatic number identification), trunked radio ID and trunked radio talk groups as additional criteria.
New call-logging features Today, fire departments can also use their master time-clock device to drive the recorders’ time code information, thus ensuring accurate time and date stamping for faster and more accurate call retrievals.
Moreover, the ability to synchronize the department’s recorder with its CAD system, PBX equipment and radio system eliminates discrepancies regarding response time.
To duplicate recorded incidents onto cassettes for court appearances, logging manufacturers now offer a stand-alone PC with a media drive and system software installed to serve as a replay station. Busy departments can then review calls and duplicate them without using the recording device, interrupting one of the media drives or ejecting the current disk and replacing it with the disk they would like to review.
Digital telephone tap cards that eliminate the need for recorder patches or digital-to-analog converters are now available for use with digital PBXs. This technological advance eliminates the need for costly third-party devices that frequently cause failures in the recording process.
Instant-recall terminals For fire departments in need of instant recall terminals, logging systems can now run a software application on a dispatcher’s PC that uses the hard drive of the logging recorder as an instant recall system. More advanced systems allow an unlimited number of PCs access to the logger with as many as 15 users replaying calls simultaneously. For applications requiring both call-logging and instant-recall terminals, both are available via the LAN.
There are several advantages to using call logging combined with instant recall. An integrated system allows the fire department to leverage its existing infrastructure (LAN, wiring, and PCs) to eliminate the need for stand-alone instant recall terminals, saving money and increasing versatility. Applications running on a PC reduce ongoing maintenance costs and save valuable desk or console space. In addition, because you are using the hard drive of the recorder as your instant recall system, the recording time is not limited as it is with more traditional instant recall systems.
Recording platforms Fire departments must also select the type of recording platform they prefer to use. Either they can select a dedicated recorder platform, or they can use an industrial-grade PC as the recorder platform. Different advantages are inherent with each design.
It has been claimed that a PC platform gives access to industry standard components and therefore offers a lower product price combined with the latest in voice technology design. Unfortunately, the facts do not support this statement. All logging manufacturers specify the components to be used when designing their units. The manufacturer then writes its operating system software to work with those components. Therefore, if your unit or components were designed to work with a certain-size hard drive, you cannot expand it to increase storage capacity without rewriting the software.
For fire-dispatch applications, dedicated recorder designs are the best choice. Most dedicated recorder designs offer front-panel control for stand-alone record and playback functionality and include a built-in backup should PC access be compromised.
Operating systems A fire department can also choose a recorder’s operating system from among DOS, OS-2, Windows NT and Unix. Though an operating system is transparent to the user (they all use a graphical-user interface in Windows ’95, ’98 or NT), OS-2 still offers the most reliable multi-tasking available for voice recording.
NT is not suitable for mission-critical recording applications like fire safety because it sometimes locks up the device it is running on without indicating any problem. In a public-safety application, any gap in call documentation could have grave consequences. DOS-based systems offer the user a stable platform but have some limitations with regard to multitasking that affect recorder performance and available features.
Performance evaluation Some logging companies now offer software programs that work in conjunction with the recorder to improve the performance of dispatchers. These programs can be customized to establish department objectives, benchmark performance, monitor performance, assist in employee training and document results. The evaluation software is integrated with the recorder allowing simultaneous review and scoring of dispatcher calls. When the supervisor has completed the evaluation, the results of the scoring session, along with the call, are saved or emailed to others in the department for review.
Choices Of course, consideration must always be given to the product’s track record for reliability, ease of use and product design as well as the financial stability of the manufacturer before deciding on a program. In today’s call logging market, there are more communications recording vendors to choose from than ever before, so deciding whom to buy from is becoming as important as what to buy