SPRINGFIELD, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Spok, Inc. today announced that the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in
Castle Rock, Colo., is using Spok® critical alerting to improve
emergency communications with first responders and other community
employees. With the alerting solution, the county is able to quickly
notify the dispatch center, patrol units, medical units, the jail, and
courthouse staff of important information needed to respond and resolve
critical situations.
“Timeliness is one of the most important elements of our notifications,”
said Anne McNulty, applications specialist in the Sheriff’s Office. “For
our people, time is critical. From the location of a fire to the details
of a hostage situation, responders need information as soon as possible
in order to respond quickly and appropriately to every situation.”
The Sheriff’s Office had been using an alerting solution that was more
than 10 years old and was no longer supported by the vendor. McNulty and
her team needed to identify and install a new solution before the
existing solution failed during an emergency. They examined several
options before selecting Spok’s critical alerting due to its robust,
flexible design and ease of use.
Sheriff’s Office staff members use Spok’s critical alerting solution in
conjunction with the unit’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system to
deliver messages to a variety of communication devices carried by
Sheriff’s Office personnel. Alerts are not only sent to first responders
in Douglas County, but also to those responding to emergencies in
neighboring counties. Messages are sent via the solution’s web interface
to immediately notify groups and individuals of anything from planned
system maintenance to life safety incidents that require a fast,
coordinated response from multiple units. For example, a man recently
barricaded himself in his home with his child, and Douglas County staff
used the Spok solution to notify the SWAT team and provide continual
updates until the situation was safely resolved.
“We depend on Spok critical alerting, and it’s being used very
effectively by all county entities,” said McNulty. “We’ve had a great
experience and continue to add new users. We absolutely recommend it to
other agencies looking for a similar solution.”
McNulty added that besides the solution’s new capabilities, part of the
positive experience was the ease of user implementation. “I have 15
years of application implementation experience, and this was one of the
easiest projects I have ever installed,” McNulty said. “Spok’s
responsiveness and attention to detail ensured the solution was tailored
to our infrastructure and related needs.”
About Spok
Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok
Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Springfield, Va., is
proud to be a leader in critical communications for healthcare,
government, public safety, and other industries. We deliver smart,
reliable solutions to help protect the health, well-being, and safety of
people around the globe. Organizations worldwide rely on Spok for
workflow improvement, secure texting, paging services, contact center
optimization, and public safety response. When communications matter,
Spok delivers. Visit us at spok.com or
find us on Twitter @Spoktweets.
Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc.
Spok, Inc.
Jill Asby, 952-230-5363
jill.asby@spok.com
Source: Spok, Inc.