Prince George’s County, Md., partners with Motorola Solutions on NG911-ready communications center, construction of new public-safety complex

The facility adds a level of comfort, but also efficiency, for the employees on the frontline of saving lives, said Tracey Savoy, a senior emergency dispatch aid for Prince George’s 911 who has worked as a 911 dispatcher for eight years. Before the rebuild, the stations had fewer screens and less mapping capabilities, she said.

“It helps, because we have two screens for maps to match up, if someone’s doesn’t know where they are,” Savoy said. “We actually have three maps and two screens for maps. It really is much better."

Customer input determined most of the design of the facility, said Michael Leonard, Mid-Atlantic territory vice president for Motorola Solutions. The Prince George’s team has had the same influence on Motorola’s second building project with the county. The $32 million, 46,000-square-foot facility will serve as the county’s Office of Homeland Security headquarters, as well as the county’s 911 backup center, emergency-management and emergency-operations center. Motorola and Prince George’s County broke ground on the new center last year. Operations in the new center are scheduled to begin this fall, according to a county official.

Prince George’s forethought to partner with the telecommunications provider is a successful example in providing top-notch emergency communications that other agencies—within the region and nationally—can model, Leonard said.

“Prince George’s [officials] are true thought leaders in mission-critical communications and how to work with their partners, how to make their solutions on an integrated platform and, effectively, make the jobs for their first responders easier, more effective and essentially getting the pertinent information on incidents at the right time and in the right folks’ hands.”

“They really are sort of a flagship and benchmark for all the partners in the National Capital Region to strive toward.”