The city of Springfield, Massachusetts is planning to spend millions of dollars to improve its emergency communications.
The Springfield City Council authorized a $3.4 million bond to cover the cost of upgrading technology at the centralized dispatch center.
A new computer-assisted dispatch system will be installed along with new records management software, explained Springfield Fire Commissioner B.J. Calvi.
“This new unified system will enhance the workflows of both fire and police dispatchers, it will give the police a much-needed new RMS system that is fully queryable from the field, and it will build out the needed radio infrastructure for the future,” Calvi said.
He said this is the second phase of the project that consolidated all the city’s emergency communications operations under one roof in February 2021.
“This is the culmination of two years of research and development,” Calvi said.
Previously, the police and fire departments had separate dispatch centers. 911 calls were answered at the police department. If a fire was being reported, the caller was transferred to the fire department’s dispatch center.
“All the dispatchers are co-located in one facility with one unified management team and have around-the-clock supervision, which we did not have before when we were in two disjointed centers,” Calvi said. “For supervision reasons alone, this a huge win for dispatch and for the citizens of the city.”
The consolidated communications center is located at the former fire department’s dispatch building on Roosevelt Ave.
“We completely gutted the facility back to the studs and began rebuilding a state-of-the-art dispatch facility, which included new flooring, new furniture, new radios, new computers, all new hard wiring and interconnection, (a) new fiber optic line that was run in there by the city,” Calvi said.
He said the centralized dispatch center has improved response times and coordination between the public safety departments.
“If the police department needs assistance from the fire department, they’re just 5 feet away,” Calvi said. “The radio operators are 5 feet apart and you can start resources much quicker.”
He said the technology upgrades will allow the city to monitor where private ambulances are being sent.
City Councilor Victor Davila, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, endorsed the spending on the dispatch center.
“This is a must,” Davila said. “Anything that can provide us with better service, I am all for.”
The dispatch center has an annual budget of $3 million and a staff of 54 people.
Last year, dispatchers answered more than 375,000 emergency calls.
