APCO, CSAA pursue third-party data interoperability
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) yesterday announced plans to jointly develop a program designed to enable efficient and accurate data exchanges between public-safety answering points (PSAPs) and alarm companies.
This effort is part of APCO’s Project 36 to establish interconnectivity between computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems. In August 2004, APCO expanded the project to include data exchanges between PSAPs and third-party call-center operators such as telematics service providers and alarm companies.
In October, York County, Va., completed a data template exchange and a CSAA alarm provider. Other beta sites for the project are in Palo Alto, Calif., and Port Orange, Fla.
“It is the intention of APCO International that this joint alarm project will lead to a standard for all PSAPs who wish to use this procedure after its proven development,” APCO President Greg Ballentine said in a prepared statement. “Likewise, we would expect CSAA to provide these results to all its alarm companies for their use with PSAPs.”